WAGR decommissioning: preparation, removal and disposal of the WAGR heat exchangers

The Windscale advanced gas-cooled reactor (WAGR) operated between 1963 and 1981 and was used as a prototype for experimental research and development related to the advanced gas-cooled reactor programme. Operations ceased in 1981 and the defuelling and dismantling of WAGR became a focus for the deve lopment of decommissioning and decontamination techniques. A major operatio n in the decommissioning of WAGR was the removal of the four heat exchanger s (HEs) from their concrete bioshields inside the secondary containment sph ere and their subsequent disposal as low-level waste. This paper describes how the removal and disposal of these HEs, was planned, organized and imple mented.