Parsons Brinckerhoff to support the implementation of the UK’s geological disposal facility for higher activity radioactive wastes

Parsons Brinckerhoff, the global engineering consultant, has signed a four-year contract with the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) to provide technical support for the development of an underground disposal facility which will keep radioactive materials isolated from the environment for thousands of years.

The Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) project will be a multi-billion pound engineering challenge to safely and securely build and operate a deep underground storage facility at a UK location that has yet to be chosen. The Government is leading the site selection process under the Managing Radioactive Waste Safely framework. Engineers on the project face significant challenges to create, for the first time, a facility that will be engineered to last for millennia.

Commenting on the role, David Rutherford, Senior Director, Energy at Parsons Brinckerhoff, said: “The development of an underground disposal facility for radioactive materials is one of the most exciting engineering challenges facing the UK today, and it is also a vital legacy for future generations.

“Our experts have been supporting the NDA – and formerly the Nuclear Industry Radioactive Waste Executive – on the storage of nuclear waste for nearly 20 years; we look forward to continuing that collaboration through development of the deep underground storage facility.”

Parsons Brinckerhoff’s work will be undertaken through its continued involvement with the Orchid group which was originally formed in 2005 to bring together expertise from across industry to meet the needs of repository engineering.

Alongside Parsons Brinckerhoff, the Orchid group consists of Nuvia, Gardiner & Theobald, National Nuclear Laboratory, SKB International, University of Manchester, Oxford Technologies, Nuclear Technologies and the British Geological Survey.