Sellafield Box Encapsulation Plant (BEP) and Box Encapsulation Plant Product Store and Direct Import Facility (BEPPS DIF)
Sellafield, Cumbria, UK · Construction of BEP/BEPPS 1 started 1997, halted 2002, reinitiated 2012, BEPPS DIF completed 2023 (operational) · £240 million to £336 million (BEP contract awarded 2014); £300 million (Balfour Beatty JV for BEP)
The judgement call
Account-gated at launchThe project was halted in 2002 due to changing waste strategies and restarted in 2012, highlighting the long-term and evolving nature of nuclear decommissioning projects. - The solution involved repurposing and enhancing existing facilities (BEP and BEPPS) and adding a Direct Import Facility (DIF) to receive waste from the Pile Fuel Cladding Silo (PFCS). - Emphasis on meticulous planning, safety assessments (HAZOPs, radiological safety, HAZCON), and an electronic Interactive Safety Case (eISC). - The facility is crucial for reducing the hazard from Sellafield's legacy ponds and silos, which present the highest risk in Northern Europe.
Key engineering challenges
Safely processing and storing highly hazardous intermediate-level nuclear waste from legacy ponds and silos. - Designing a robust, fault-tolerant facility to maximize throughput for high-hazard risk reduction. - Meeting stringent Nuclear Site License Conditions and demonstrating compliance to the Office of Nuclear Regulation (ONR). - Working within a highly contaminated and complex nuclear site environment. - Designing for long-term storage (up to 100 years) of radioactive waste.
Project facts
- Client / owner
- Sellafield Ltd
- Lead contractor
- Joint venture of Jacobs, Amec (now Wood Group), and Balfour Beatty; DSD Construction (civil engineering)
- Lead designers
- RPS Group (engineering design, assessments); Jacobs, Amec, Balfour Beatty JV (design, engineering)
- Project type
- new build | upgrade | refurbishment
- Scale
- Vault dimensions: 84.1m long x 21.7m wide x 17.3m high; vault volume = 31,572 m³; storage capacity for 6,681 waste containers (5-tonne each); wall thickness between vaults = 1 meter.
- Disciplines
- Nuclear engineering; civil; structural; mechanical; electrical; systems; radiological safety; human factors; fire safety; construction safety
- Standards & frameworks
- Nuclear Site License Conditions; Office of Nuclear Regulation (ONR) regulations; Approved Document B (fire safety); HAZOPs; HAZCON
Sources: RPS Group: Box Encapsulation Plant (BEP), Sellafield (https://www.rpsgroup.com/projects/box-encapsulation-plant-bep-sellafield/) - GOV.UK: What is the Box Encapsulation Plant Product Store and Direct Import Facility? (https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/what-is-the-box-encapsulation-plant-product-store-and-direct-import-facility) - NucNet: Sellafield Awards £336 Million Box Encapsulation Plant Contract (https://www.nucnet.org/news/sellafield-awards-336-million-box-encapsulation-plant-contract) - Balfour Beatty: Balfour Beatty joint venture unveils new plant to support clean-up at Sellafield (https://www.balfourbeatty.com/media-centre/latest/balfour-beatty-joint-venture-unveils-new-plant-to-support-clean-up-at-sellafield/)