UK crane rental firm Ainscough Crane Hire was commissioned by Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS) – a UK government organisation responsible for safely decommissioning the first generation nuclear and research sites across the UK – to remove potentially radioactive industrial laundry machines at Oldbury nuclear site. Located on the south bank of the River Severn in South Gloucestershire, Oldbury is one of the UK’s oldest nuclear facilities.
The Bristol division of Ainscough undertook the work which is said required detailed co-ordination and stringent safety planning.
The redundant washing machines had potential low level radioactive contamination as they had been used to wash thousands of items of contaminated workwear over their lifetime.
The laundry machines were lifted using a 40-tonne crane on 2m x 1.2m Ekki mats. Each laundry machine weighed approximately 0.25 tonnes and was lifted at a 12-metre radius.
Once on the ground the machines were then securely transported off-site under the supervision of NRS’s waste management team to ensure full compliance with transport regulations.
Removing the redundant units at this stage prevents future deterioration and avoids them becoming waste. The machines will now be refurbished and repurposed at UniTech’s specialist nuclear laundry facility in South Wales.
