Glossary
| ACOP | Approved Code of Practice |
| ACP | Access Control Point |
| ACWP | Actual Cost of Work Performed |
| AEAC | United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary, the former name for the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC). |
| AECL | Atomic Energy of Canada Limited |
| AECP | Atomic Energy Code of Practice |
| AEEU | Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union |
| AETP | Active Effluent Treatment Plant |
| AGR | Advanced Gas Cooled Reactor - A term used for the second generation of British Power Reactors, now operated by British Energy. The fuel used in the reactor is slightly enriched uranium oxide clad in stainless steel. The coolant is carbon dioxide and the moderator is graphite. The fuel is manufactured by Westinghouse Ltd at Springfields and reprocessed in THORP. |
| ALARA | As Low As Reasonably Achievable. The ALARA principle is contained in the Euratom Basic Safety Standards Directive 96.29, which is transposed into UK Law. Essentially, it means that all reasonable steps should be taken to protect people. In making judgement, factors such as the costs involved in taking protection measures are weighted against benefits obtained, including the reduction in risks to people. |
| ALARP | As Low as Reasonably Practicable. To satisfy this principle, measures necassary to reduce risk must be taken until the cost of these measures whether in money, time or trouble, is disproportionate to the reduction of risk. (Cm 2919) (Edwards v. National Coal Board [1949]) |
| ANDRA | Agence nationale pour la gestion des déchets radioactifs-National agency for the management of radioactive waste |
| ANS | American Nuclear Society |
| ASB | Accounting Standards Board |
| ASFL | Annual Site Funding Limit - The NDA will determine the Annual SLC (Site) Funding Limit (ASFL) for each SLC based upon the funds allocated by HM Treasury. The ASFL will provide the financial constraints within which the SLC strategy, and effectively, the scope of work which can be delivered. |
| Attribute | Quality or inherent property belonging to or representative of a person or thing. |
| AWVR | Active Waste Vaults Recovery |
| BAT | Best Available Technology |
| BATNEEC | Best Available Technology Not Entailing Excessive Cost |
| BCWP | Budgeted Cost of Work Performed |
| BCWS | Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled |
| BDP | Baseline Decommissioning Plan |
| BE | British Energy PLC. BE is the UK’s largest electricity generator. It is the current Site Licensee for the AGR & PWR second-generation power stations in the United Kingdom. The stations currently operated by BE are: Hunterston B, Torness, Heysham 1 and 2, Hartlepool, Hinkley Point B, Sizewell B, Dungeness B and Eggborough (which is a coal-fired power station). www.british-energy.com |
| Berkeley (Glos.) | Site of a closed Magnox power station (two reactors) and of the Berkeley Centre. The facilities of the Centre include high active cells, active chemistry laboratories, radiological instrumentation cells, specialist materials, graphite and rector coolant laboratories. |
| BEP | Box Encapsulation Plant |
| BEPO | British Experimental Pile 0 |
| BERR | Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform |
| BGS | British Geological Survey |
| BIOMASS | BIOsphere Modeling Validation Study |
| BNES | British Nuclear Energy Society. The society was established in the 1960s to provide information and education on nuclear issues. BNES contributes to the public debate on the use of nuclear energy. www.bnes.com |
| BNIA | British Nuclear Industry Association |
| BNIF | British Nuclear Industry Forum |
| BPEO | Best Practicable Environmental Option. The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (RCEP) 12th Report (1988) proposed a formal definition and procedure for BPEO: “the outcome of a systematic and consultative decision-making procedure...the option that provides the most benefit and the least damage to the environment [across air, water and land] as a whole, at acceptable cost, in the long-term as well as in the short-term”. |
| BPM | Best Practicable Means. BPM is a term used by the Environment Agency and Scottish Environment Protection Agency in authorisations issued under the Radioactive Substances Act. Essentially, it requires operators to take all reasonably practicable measures in the design and operational management of their facilities to minimise waste creation, abating discharges, and monitoring plant discharges and the environment. It takes account of such factors as the availability and cost of relevant measures, operator safety and the benefits of reduced discharges and disposals. If the operator is using BPM, radiation risks to the public and the environment will be As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA). |
| Bq | Becquerel |
| Bradwell (Essex) | Site of a Magnox power station (two reactors) that operated from 1962 - May 2002 |
| BS | British Standard |
| BSL | Basic Safety Limit |
| BSO | Basic Safety Objective |
| BSS | Basic Safety Standards |
| Business in the Community | This is a unique movement of over 700 of the UK’s top companies committed to improving their positive impact on society. The NDA is a member of Business in the Community. www.bitc.org.uk |
| Business Plan | The NDA Business Plan is consistant with the approved NDA Strategy and sets out key objectives and plans for delivery priorities over a three year period. |
| BVG | Borrowdale Volcanic Group |
| BWR | Boiling Water Reactor |
| C&AG | Comptroller and Auditor General |
| C&I | Control and Instrumentation |
| CAD | Computer-Aided Design |
| Caithness Horizons | This is a partnership formed to create an outstanding facility in Thurso Town Hall for the benefit of the local community and visitors to Caithness and the North Highlands. www.caithnesshorizons.co.uk |
| Calder Hall (Cumbria) | A Magnox power station (Four reactors) within the Sellafield Site that started operating in 1956. It was the world's first fully commercial nuclear power plant and remains the UK's longest operating nuclear power plant. The Plant ceased operation in March 2003 and is currently being De-fuelled. |
| CAND | Caithness Against Nuclear Dumping |
| Capenhurst (Cheshire) | A site which originally housed a diffusion plant, ceased operation in 1982. The site now focuses on the decommissioning and storage of uranic materials. Capenhurst is also home to the first commercial scale centrifuge plant for the enrichment of uranium. |
| Care and maintenance | A stage in the process of decommissioning a nuclear site. It begins when the only significant buildings left on a site are the reactor buildings and an ILW store – these will be removed at the dismantling stage. |
| Care and Maintenance Costs | The cost associated with care and maintenance are defined as the Ongoing Facility Costs |
| CASE | Caithness & Sutherland Enterprise. CASE is one of nine Local Enterprise Companies which form the Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) network. CASE was established in April 1991, taking over the former responsibilities of the Highlands and Islands Development Board and the Training Agency in the counties of Caithness and Sutherland. CASE has powers and resources to enable social and economic development. www.hie.co.uk/CASE.htm |
| CBT | Computer Based Training |
| CCAB | Consultative Committee of Accounting Bodies |
| CCC | Cumbria County Council |
| CCP | Cartridge Cooling Pond |
| CDM | Construction (Design and Management) Regulations, 1994 |
| CE | European Community (marking) |
| CETV | Cash Equivalent Transfer Value |
| CFA | Conditions for Acceptance |
| Chapelcross (Dumfreshire) | Site of an operating Magnox power station (four reactors) that opened in 1959. This site ceased operations in March 2005 when it began the decommissioning and clean up process. |
| Chemical Hazard Potential (CHP) | A measure of the harm that could be caused by the chemical properties of a material in the form it is in (see Hazard) |
| CHSSEC | Central Health, Safety, Security and Environment Committee |
| Classify | Arrange in classes; assign to class (group or things having some characteristic(s) in common) |
| Clean-up | A term used in conjunction with decommissioning. Once a nuclear facility has been decommissioned the site needs to be cleaned-up to remove any possible contamination. The site is then returned to either a greenfield or brownfield site (this is done with consultation from the local communities). |
| CMI | Company Management Instruction |
| CMP | Company Management Procedure |
| CND | Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament |
| CNC | Civil Nuclear Constabulary. Formerly known as UKAEA Constabulary, the CNC was established on 1 April 2005, as directed by the Energy Act 2004. The CNC reports to an independent Civil Nuclear Police Authority (CNPA); it operates under the strategic direction of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR). www.cnc.police.uk |
| CNPP | Combined Nuclear Pension Plan |
| CoA | Conditions of Acceptance |
| CODA | Charge Over Deposit Accounts |
| COGEMA | Compagnie Générale des Matières Nucléaires |
| Cogent | This is the Sector Skills Council for the nuclear industry. www.cogent-ssc.com |
| Collective Dose | A quanitity which takes accout of the number of people exposed by multiplying the average dose to the exposed group by the number of individuals in the group. |
| COMAH | Control of Major Accident Hazards |
| COMARE | This is an independent expert advisory committee made up of medical and scientific experts. The committee offers independent advice to all government departments or devolved authorities and is responsible for assessing and advising them on the health effects of natural and man-made radiation. www.comare.org.uk |
| Commercial Operations | Operations which provide a commercial product or service to customers e.g. electricity generation, fuel services, reprocessing services, mixed oxide fuel fabrication, international transport. |
| Condition 6 | EA and SEPA Management of Change under RSA93 authorisations |
| Controlling mind | The NDA works with its contractors and the Regulators in such a way that, having agreed with our contractors what can be done and by when, we don’t dictate how things will be done with regard to HSSE related activities. This dictatorship is referred to as the ‘controlling mind’ principle. |
| CORE | CORE is a Cumbrian organisation that campaigns against nuclear activity in the county, for example, reprocessing, discharges and importing and exporting foreign waste. www.corecumbria.co.uk |
| CoRWM | CoRWM is an independent committee appointed by the UK Government. Their original task was to review the options for managing those higher-activity UK radioactive wastes for which there is no agreed long-term solution. Their findings were published in July 2006, to which Government responded in October 2006, resulting in the incorporation of Nirex into the NDA. The Committee was reconstituted and their terms of reference were revised. Their role now is to provide independent scrutiny and advice to Government on the long-term management, including storage and disposal, of radioactive waste. (See www.corwm.org.uk ). |
| COSHH | Control of Substances Hazardous to Health |
| COSR | Continued Operation Safety Report |
| Critical Group Dose | It is often convenient to class together individuals who form a homogenous group with respect to their exposure to a single source. When such a group id typical of those most highly exposed by that source, it is known as a crtical group. |
| CRP | Caesium Removal Plant |
| CSR | Comprehensive Spending Review |
| Culham (Oxfordshire) | The UK Centre for research into nuclear Fusion and home of JET (Joint European Torus), Europe's flagship fusion research project. Since January 2000 JET has been operated by UKAEA on behalf of Euratom. The NDA will be responsible for decommissioning the site when JET closes. Also based at Culham are the Civil Nuclear Constabulary and a number of external tenants. A nuclear site licence does not cover the site. |
| CWBS | Contractor Work Breakdown Structure |
| CXPP | Chapelcross Production Plant |
| DA | Devolved Administration |
| DAD | Decide, Announce, Defend |
| DAs | Development Agencies |
| DBA | Design Basis Assessment |
| DBE | Design Basis Earthquake |
| DBE | Deutsche Gesellschaft zum Bau und Betrieb von Endlagen für Abfallstoffe GmbH - German Company for the Construction and Operation of Repositories for Wastes |
| DCP | Dounreay Cementation Plant |
| Decommissioning | The final phase in the life cycle of a nuclear installation covering all activities from shutdown and removal of fissile material to environmental restoration of the site. |
| Decontamination | Removal or reduction of radioactive contamination |
| DEFRA | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. DEFRA leads the Government’s view on the radioactive waste issue in the UK. www.defra.gov.uk |
| DFR | Dounreay Fast Reactor |
| DfT | Department of Transport. This Government department regulates the movement of radioactive materials. www.dft.gov.uk |
| Disposal | In the context of solid waste, disposal is the emplacement of waste in a suitable facility without intent to retrieve it at a later date. Retrieval may be possible but, if intended, the appropriate term is storage. Disposal may also refer to the release of airborne or liquid waste to the environment (i.e. emissions and discharges). |
| DMTR | Dounreay Materials Test Reactor |
| DOE | Department of Energy (United States) |
| Donor Plant | Plant containing the inventory that is to be remediated by a SED Reduction Project. |
| Dounreay (Caithness) | Located on the far north coast of Scotland, the site was established on a former naval base as the centre for UK fast reactor research. It is now engaged in a major decommissioning and site restoration programme to deal with the legacy of past operations. Over half of UKAEA liabilities are located at Dounreay. |
| DPAG | Dounreay Particles Advisory Group |
| DRS | Direct Rail Services Limited. A wholly-owned subsidiary of the NDA, which provides rail transport services for nuclear materials in the UK. www.directrailservices.com |
| DRYPAC | A process for DRYing and supercomPACting sludge |
| DSAT | Disposal Safety Assessment Team |
| DSC | Dry Store Cells |
| DSE | Display Screen Equipment |
| DSO | Departmental Strategic Objectives |
| DSRL | Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd |
| DTI (now DBERR) | Department of Trade and Industry became Department for Business, Enterprise, and Regulatory Reform (BERR) in 2007. www.berr.gov.uk |
| DfT | Department for Transport |
| Dungeness A (Kent) | Site operating Magnox Power Station (Two reactors) that opened in 1965. |
| DWR | Deep Waste Repository |
| EA | Environment Agency. The EA’s role is the enforcement of specified laws and regulations aimed at protecting the environment, in the context of sustainable development predominantly by authorising and controlling radioactive discharges and waste disposals to air, water (surface water, ground water) and land. In addition to authorisation issued under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993, the EA also regulates nuclear sites under the Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations and issues consents for non-radioactive discharges. The equivalent body in Scotland is the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). www.environment-agency.gov.uk |
| EAF | Eastern Area Facility |
| Earned Value | The value of the useful work done at any given point in a project. The cost of earned value is expressed as Budgeted Cost Work Performed (BCWP). Note: The budget and earned value may be expressed in cost or labour hours. |
| EC | European Commission. A politically independent collegial institution which embodies and defends the general interests of the European Union. http://ec.europa.eu |
| EIAD | Environmental Impact Assessment for Decommissioning |
| EDF | Electricité de France. The NDA has signed a mutual co-operation agreement with EDF for joint working on major projects and sharing ideas and experience on a host of topics. EDF have 58 reactors on 19 sites. The first reactors, built between 1958 and 1966, featured GCR (Graphite-Moderated Gas-Cooled Reactor) technology and are now being decommissioned. www.edf.fr |
| EDZ | Excavation Disturbed Zone |
| EEC | European Economic Community (now EC) |
| EFDA | European Fusion Development Agreement |
| EFQM | European Foundation of Quality Management |
| EIA | Environmental Impact Assessment |
| EIAD | Environmental Impact Assessment for Decommissioning |
| EIR | Environmental Information Regulations |
| Energy Act 2004 | The NDA came into existence in July 2004 when the Energy Act received Royal Assent. The Act was introduced to give the NDA its legal status and the power to fulfil its responsibilities. |
| ENRESA | Empresa Nacional de Residuos Radiactivos, S.A.-Spanish radioactive waste management company |
| Environment Agency | The Environment Agency's role is the enforcement of specified laws and regulations aimed at protecting the environment, in the context of sustainable development predominantly by authorising and controlling radioactive discharges and waste disposals to air, water (surface water, ground water) and land. In addition to authorisation issued under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993, the Environment Agency also regulates nuclear sites under the Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations and issues consents for non-radioactive discharges. The equivalent body in Scotland is the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). |
| Environmental Information Regulations | The Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) work in a similar way to the Freedom of Information Act. They allow access to environmental information held by public authorities and bodies carrying out a public function. |
| ENS | European Nuclear Society |
| EOT | Electric Overhead Travelling crane |
| Epidemiology | The scientific study of factors affecting the health and illness of populations which serves as the foundation and logic of interventions made in the interest of public health and preventative medicine. Records of the nuclear industry workforce exposure to radiation, especially at Sellafield, have been maintained for many years. The data are owned by the workforce and provide essential material for epidemiological research studies into the longer-term trends associated with dose exposure. |
| EPS1/2 | Encapsulated Product Store 1 or 2 |
| ESCORT | Probabilistic Safety Assessment software |
| EU | European Union |
| EURATOM | The European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC) or EURATOM Within the European Union, nuclear matters are the subject of a separate treaty dating from 1957 which established EURATOM also known as EAEC to encourage progress in the field of nuclear energy. www.euratom.org |
| European Commission (EC) | The European Commission is a politically independent collegial institution which embodies and defends the general interests of the European Union. |
| EURRP | Enriched Uranium Residues Reprocessing Plant |
| Facility | Any plant or area of contaminated land within a site boundary which will require remediation, The definition is not restricted to facilities which are affected by radioactive contamination or ouse radioactive inventories. |
| FCA | Fuel Cycle Area |
| FED | Fuel Element Debris |
| Fellside Heat And Power Ltd | This company produces electricity through combined heat and power and has a capacity of 170MW, of which 24-26MW goes to the Sellafield site and the remaining 142-146MW goes to the National Grid. It is situated just outside the licensed site at Sellafield. |
| FEPs | Features, Events and Processes |
| FHP | Fuel Handling Plant |
| FoE | Friends of the Earth |
| FoI | The Freedom of Information Act The Act came into force on 1 January 2005. It gives people the right to request information held by or on behalf of public bodies. |
| Foratom | European Atomic Forum. The trade association of the European nuclear industry, Foratom promotes the peaceful use of nuclear energy. It acts as the voice of the nuclear industry in policy discussions involving the European Institutions. www.foratom.org |
| FORTRAN | A scientific computer language (FORmula TRANslation) |
| Fuel / Nuclear Fuel | Material containing fissile nuclides, which, in a reactor, produce the neutrons necessary to sustain a neutron chain reaction. |
| FRC | Financial Reporting Council |
| FReM | Government Financial Reporting Council |
| Freedom Of Information Act | The Freedom of Information Act came into force on the 1st of January 2005. The Act gives people the right to request information held by or on behalf of public bodies. |
| GDSS | Generic Disposal System Specification |
| GLEEP | Graphite Low Energy Experimental Pile |
| GOSA | Generic Operational Safety Assessment |
| GOSR | Generic Operational Safety Report |
| GPA | Generic Performance Assessment |
| Grant-in-aid | Money received from the Government to fund the NDA’s remit. |
| Graphite | The NDA is currently exploring the management/treatment options for graphite waste, taking account of worldwide developments and best practice. Finding an innovative solution to graphite wastes would inform a business case for accelerated decommissioning at Magnox reactor sites. |
| GRD | Generic Repository Design |
| GTSA | Generic Transport Safety Assessment |
| GTSD | Generic Transport System Design |
| HAL | Highly Active Liquor |
| HALES | Highly Active Liquid Evaporation & Storage |
| Harwell (Oxfordshire) | A former RAF base which was the UK's first centre for nuclear research and development. It now houses a number of redundant research facilities, including low energy reactors and materials testing reactors. Decommissioning is well advanced. Roughly half the land is subject to a nuclear licence. The remainder, separated by a security fence is unlicensed. UKAEA's headquarters are located at Harwell, and the site is being progressively restored and transformed into a science and technology business park - Harwell International Business Centre. It is also the location of one of the NDA’s offices which houses the majority of the Radioactive Waste Management Directorate (RWMD) staff. |
| HASAW | Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act, 1974 |
| Hazard | The potential for harm arising from an intrinsic property or disposition of something to cause detriment. |
| Hazard Indicator (HI) | A term formerly used to denote what is now called the Radiological Hazard Potential (RHP) See below. |
| Hazard Potential | A measure of the harm that could be caused by a combination of chemical and radioactive properties of a material in the form it is in, The Sum of RHP and CHP. |
| HEPA | High Efficiency Particulate in Air |
| HEU | Highly Enriched Uranium |
| HEX tails | Types of uranic material arising from the uranium enrichment process (part of the nuclear fuel production cycle). |
| Health and Safety Executive (HSE) | A statutory body whose role is the enforcement of work related health and safety law under the general direction of the Health and Safety Commission established by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. HSE is the licensing authority for nuclear installations. The Nuclear Safety Directorate of HSE exercises this delegated authority through the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate who are responsible for regulating the nuclear, radiological and industrial safety of nuclear instillations UK wide. |
| HGV | Heavy Goods Vehicle |
| HHISO | Half-Height ISO (ISO = International Standards Organisation) |
| HIE | Highlands and Islands Enterprise network. The Scottish Executive’s economic development agency for the Highlands of Scotland. The Highlands and Islands of Scotland have around 19,000 businesses and more than 8,000 voluntary and community groups. The task of the network is to help create a sustainable economy through these businesses and groups. HIE activities include: delivery of business support services, provision of training and learning programmes, assistance for community and cultural projects and measures for environmental renewal. It has led the development of a strategy for securing economic benefits from the decommissioning of Dounreay. www.hie.co.uk |
| Hinkley Point A (Somerset) | A closed Magnox power station (two reactors) that operated from 1965 to 2000 |
| Hinton Insurance Limited | A wholly-owned subsidiary of the NDA which acts as an insurer. |
| HLW | High-Level Waste Heat-generating waste that has accumulated since the early 1950s at Sellafield and Dounreay, primarily from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. The temperature in HLW may rise significantly, this factor has to be taken into account when designing storage or disposal facilities. |
| HMIP | Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution |
| HMRI | Her Majesty's Railways Inspectorate |
| HP | Higher Permeability |
| HSC | Health and Safety Commission Responsible for health and safety regulation in Great Britain. The HSE and local government are the enforcing authorities who work in support of the Commission. www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/hsc/index.htm |
| HSE | Health and Safety Executive. A statutory body whose role is the enforcement of work-related health and safety law under the general direction of the Health and Safety Commission established by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. HSE is the licensing authority for nuclear installations. The Nuclear Safety Directorate of the HSE exercises this delegated authority through the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate who are responsible for regulating the nuclear, radiological and industrial safety of nuclear installations UK-wide. www.hse.gov.uk |
| HSSE | Health, Safety, Security & Environmental |
| Hunterston A(Ayrshire) | A closed Magnox power station (two reactors) that operated from 1964 to 1990 |
| IAEA | International Atomic Energy Agency. The Vienna-based IAEA (part of the United Nations) is the global focal point for nuclear co-operation and promotes the peaceful use of atomic energy. It gives guidance on nuclear safety and verifies that members comply with their safeguard obligations and use nuclear material only for peaceful purposes. www.iaea.org |
| ICAEW | Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales |
| ICO | Information Commissioner’s Office Ensures the Data Protection Act, Environmental Information Regulations and the Freedom of Information Act are upheld within organisations across the United Kingdom. www.ico.gov.uk |
| IiP | Investors in People. The IiP Standard is a business improvement tool designed to advance an organisation’s performance through its people. The NDA was recognised as an IiP employer in May 2006. Using the IiP Standard framework ensures that the NDA grows and embeds a working environment that encourages active learning and development of its workforce. www.investorsinpeople.co.uk |
| IMechE | Institute of Mechanical Engineers |
| IMM | Institute of Mining and Metallurgy |
| INES | International Nuclear Event Scale |
| Intermediate Level Waste (ILW) | Waste with radioactivity levels exceeding the upper boundaries for Low Level Waste (LLW), but which do not need heating to be taken into account in the design of storage or disposal facilities. ILW arises mainly from the reprocessing of spent fuel, and from general operations and maintenance of radioactive plant. The major components of ILW are metals and organic materials, with smaller quantities of cement, graphite, glass and ceramics. |
| ILWS | Intermediate Level Waste Store |
| Initial Ranking List | An initial list of SED Reduction Projects, scored against the Project Benefit Measure to assign a prioritised ranking. |
| Innovation | A process, generally driven by NDA incentives to Site Lincensee Companies (SLCs), and proposed/delivered SLCs themselves, whereby the schedules and/or methods used in the cleanup of a site are varied to increase performance against n NDA Progress Measure (NPM). |
| INS | International Nuclear Services The INS is owned by British Nuclear Group Sellafield Ltd and the NDA. It was formerly known as Spent Fuel Services, an operating unit within British Nuclear Group. Its main focus continues to be the customer interface to over 20 utility customers for reprocessing and MOX fuel supply contracts and the associated transportation of these products. |
| Instruction | A document which further expands the directions included in a procedure. |
| INSA | Independent Nuclear Safety Assessment |
| INTN | International Nuclear Transport Network |
| INucE | Institution of Nuclear Engineers |
| IP | Industrial Package (IAEA Transport Regs.) |
| IPR | Intellectual Property Rights |
| IPTC | Industrial Package Transport Container |
| IRR | Ionising Radiations Regulations |
| ISO | International Standards Organisation |
| IT | Information Technology |
| ITN | Invitation to Negotiate |
| ITT | Invitation to Tender |
| ITPD | Invitation to Participate in Dialogue |
| IWS/IWPS | Industry-wide Pension Scheme |
| IWS | Integrated Waste Strategy |
| JAIF | Japan Atomic Industrial Forum |
| JET | The Joint European Torus fusion research project based at Culham and operated by UKAEA on behalf of Euratom. |
| JNC | Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute |
| JNFL | Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited |
| KASAM | Swedish National Council for Nuclear Waste |
| KPI's | Key Performance Indicators. These are performance targets written into contracts against which actual performance is measured. In the NDA's case, we will agree KPI's with site operators that will include progress made in clean-up work, as well as performance against safety, security and environmental criterion. |
| LC36 | HSE/NII’s Licence Condition 36 (Management of Change) |
| Legacy Dose | The dose uptake which can be directly attributed to the Care and Maintenance of nuclear facilities. As such it is the minimum dose uptake which will be incurred in order to maintain the facility ina safe and legal condition. |
| LETP | Liquid Effluent Treatment Plan |
| LHLW | Liquid High Level Waste |
| Liabilities | The costs involved in decommissioning; the processing, long term management, storage and final disposal of waste materials and spent fuel; and the environmental remediation of nuclear sites. |
| LoC | Letter of Compliance |
| LP | Low Permeability |
| LLWAM | Low Level Waste Activity Monitor |
| LLW | Low-Level Waste Waste which includes metals, soil, building rubble and organic materials, arising principally as lightly contaminated miscellaneous scrap. Wastes other than those suitable for disposal with ordinary refuse, but not exceeding 4 GBq/te (gigabecquerels) of alpha or 12 GBq/te of beta/gamma activity. Metals are mostly in the form of redundant equipment. Organic materials are mainly in the form of paper towels, clothing and laboratory equipment that have been used in areas where radioactive materials are used – such as hospitals, research establishments and industry. The National Repository for LLW is near Drigg, Cumbria. |
| LLWR | Low Level Waste Repository (LLWR) sites near Drigg in Cumbria. The site is operated by LLW Repository Ltd and from 1 April 2008 its Parent Body Organisation is UK Nuclear Waste Management Ltd. |
| LMU | Liabilities Management Unit. A unit set up within the DTI to strengthen its ability to drive forward work on the nuclear legacy and help to prepare the ground for the NDA. (For more information see the White Paper – Managing the Nuclear Legacy.) |
| LOC | Letter of Comfort |
| LRQA | Lloyds Register Quality Assurance |
| LSC | Learning and Skills Council. Learning and Skills Council The LSC aims to improve the skills of England’s young people and adults to ensure there is a workforce of worldclass standard. The LSC is responsible for planning and funding high-quality education and training for everyone in England other than those in universities. www.lsc.gov.uk |
| LSA | Low Specific Activity |
| LTP | Lifetime Plan. A document describing the totality of the activities in terms of scope, schedule and cost to be undertaken at each site to transition from the current state to the proposed end state. Submitted annually from the sites to the NDA. |
| LWR | Light Water Reactor. A reactor that uses natural water as a moderator and coolant, and low-enriched uranium as fuel. The most common type of power reactor currently in use. Must be shutdown to change fuel. |
| M&O | Management and Operations. A term relating to the day-to-day running of the sites by the SLC in accordance with the contract with the NDA. |
| MAA | Multi-Attribute Analysis - a decision aiding methodology - The terms Multi - Attribute Analysis (MAA) and Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) are used interchnageably. Also in use is the term Mutli-Attribute Utility Analysis (MUA) and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA). |
| MAC | Miscellaneous Active Component |
| MADA | Multiple Attribute Decision Analysis - See MAA |
| MCA | Multi-Criteria Analysis - See MAA |
| MDU | Magnox Depleted Uranium |
| MAFF | Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food |
| Magnox | A type of reactor, so called because of the magnesium alloy cladding used to contain uranium fuel rods. |
| Magnox Electric Limited | Holder of a nuclear site licence for each of the NDA’s Magnox reactor sites. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reactor Sites Management Company, currently part of BNG. |
| Magnox Reactor | A term for the first generation of British power reactors (at Berkeley, Bradwell, Calder Hall, Chapelcross, Dungeness A, Hinkley Point A, Hunterston A, Oldbury, Sizewell A, Trawsfynydd and Wylfa) from the use of "Magnox" as the Cladding Material. |
| MASCOT | Probabilistic Safety Assessment software |
| MASHAM | Management and Administration of Safety and Health in Mines |
| MBGWS | Miscellaneous Beta-Gamma Waste Store (Sellafield) |
| MCI | Miscellaneous Contaminated Items |
| MDU | Magnox Depleted Uranium (trioxide) |
| MEB | Multi-Element Bottle |
| MEP | Magnox Encapsulation Plant |
| Metric | A measurable quantity or quality that can be expressed as a number. |
| MHCA | Modified Historical Cost Accounting |
| MHSAW | Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, 1992 |
| MoA | Memorandum of Agreement |
| MoD | Ministry of Defence. The MoD provides the defence capabilities to ensure the security and defence of the United Kingdom and the Overseas Territories. It supports the Government’s foreign policy objectives, particularly those relating to peace and security. The NDA has full financial responsibility for certain MoD nuclear liabilities situated on NDA sites. www.mod.uk |
| Modifier(s) | The socio-economic, socio-political or land use consideration(s) which may result in an adjusted ranking of prioritised projects. |
| MOP | Magnox Operating Plan |
| Mortgage Cost | The cost of maintaining a site in its current state. This cost is measured in three ways, through consideration of the ongoing financial burden of the site, the ongoing dose uptake associated with the maintenance of the site and the continued discharges of solid, liquid and aerial effluents. |
| MoU | Memoranda of Understanding; documents that outline formal agreements between two parties. |
| MOX | Mixed Oxide fuel, made up of around 95% uranium and 5% plutonium. |
| MSP | Member of the Scottish Parliament |
| MSV | Magnox Sludge Vault |
| MTR | Material Test Reactor |
| MUA | Multi-Attribute Utility Analysis - See MAA |
| MWTP | Main Water Treatment Plant |
| MXD | Magnox Dissolution Plant |
| NAO | National Audit Office. The NAO audits most public-sector bodies in the UK (including the NDA) and produces value-for-money reports into the implementation of Government policies. www.nao.gov.uk |
| NAGRA | Swiss National Co-operative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste |
| National Nuclear Laboratory | The National Nuclear Laboratory provides technology services and solutions across the nuclear fuel cycle. www.nnl.co.uk |
| NDA | Nuclear Decommissioning Authority |
| NDPB | Non-Departmental Public Body. A body which has a role in the process of national Government, but is not a government department or part of one, and which accordingly operates to a greater or lesser extent at arm's length from Ministers. More simply, this means a national or regional public body, operating independently of Ministers, but for which Ministers are ultimately responsible. |
| NDS | National Disposal Service |
| NDSP | Nuclear Design Safety Principles |
| NDT | Non-Destructive Testing |
| NEA | Nuclear Energy Agency of the OECD |
| NEI | Nuclear Energy Institute |
| Neutrons | Produced by the splitting, or fissioning of certain atoms inside a nuclear reactor. Neutron radiation is very penetrating so water and concrete are therefore used as protection against it. |
| Nexia Solutions Limited | See National Nuclear Laboratory. |
| NGO | Non-Governmental Organisation. The term is used in a variety of ways all over the world and, depending on the context in which it is used, can refer to many different types of organisation. In its broadest sense, a non-governmental organisation is one that is not directly part of the structure of Government. Typical NGOs that the NDA talks to are Greenpeace and CORE. |
| NHRF | North Highland Regeneration Fund |
| NIA | Nuclear industries Association. The NIA is the trade association and information body for the UK civil nuclear industry, representing over 130 companies. www.niauk.org |
| NII | Nuclear Installations Inspectorate. Part of the HSE and responsible for regulating the safety of nuclear sites in the UK. This is done through a system of site licensing. www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/nsd1.htm |
| NLD | Nuclear Liabilities Directorate |
| NLF | Nuclear Liabilities Fund |
| NLFA | Nuclear Liabilities Funding Agreement |
| NNA | National Nuclear Archive |
| NNARCS | National Nuclear Radio Communication System |
| NNIRF | National NDA Industry and Regulators Forum (now Senior Regulatory Forum) |
| NNL | See National Nuclear Laboratory |
| NNR | National Nature Reserve |
| NRPB | National Radiological Protection Board. The board was created by the Radiological Protection Act 1970, it provides independent and authorities, advice on radiation protection. www.hpa.org.uk/radiation |
| NRVB | Nirex Reference Vault Backfill |
| NSAN | National Skills Academy for Nuclear |
| NSC | Nuclear Safety Committee |
| NSG | National Stakeholder Group |
| NSTS | Nuclear Sciences and Technology Services |
| NuLeAF | Nuclear Legacy Advisory Forum. Under the auspices of the Local Government Association, the Special Interest Group (SIG) on Radioactive Waste Management and Nuclear Decommissioning was created in November 2003, when a group of concerned Local Authorities (including Cumbria County Council, Manchester City Council and Copeland Borough Council) recognised the need to develop an organisation that could speak for Local Government at a national level on nuclear legacy management. In April 2005, they renamed the SIG as the Nuclear Legacy Advisory Forum. www.nuleaf.org.uk |
| NUMEX | Nuclear Maintenance Experience Exchange |
| NuSAC | Nuclear Safety Advisory Committee. This committee advises the Health and Safety Commission on nuclear safety policy and its implementation at nuclear installations. www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/hsc/iacs/ nusac/index.htm |
| NWDA | The Northwest Regional Development Agency. Responsible for the sustainable economic development and regeneration of England’s Northwest with 5 key priorities: Business Development, Regeneration, Skills & Employment, Infrastructure and Image. www.nwda.gov.uk |
| OASSC | Overarching Site Safety Case |
| OCPA | Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. |
| Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS) | An autonomous BERR unit which regulates security arrangements in the civil nuclear industry, including security of nuclear material in transit, exercising statutory powers on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. This is primarily in order to protect against the threats of terrorism and nuclear proliferation. |
| OECD | Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development |
| OEL | Occupation Exposure Level |
| OESC | Operational Environment Safety Case |
| OFC | The Oxide Fuel Complex is a nuclear fuel manufacturing plant at Springfields site. |
| OGC | Office of Government Commerce (OGC) works with public sector organisations to help them improve their efficiency, gain better value for money from their commercial activities and deliver improved success from programmes and projects. |
| OJEU | Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). All procurement in the public sector is subject to EC Treaty principles of non-discrimination, equal treatment and transparency. The EC Public Procurement Directives require contracting authorities, such as NDA, to provide details of procurements in a prescribed format, which are then published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). |
| Oldbury (Glos) | A Magnox power station (two reactors) that started operation in 1967. |
| ONDRAF/ NIRAS | Organisme National des Déchets Radioactifs et des Matières Fissiles - Belgian Agency for Management of Radioactive Waste and Enriched Fissile Material |
| Ongoing Facility Cost (OFC) | The Ongoing facility costs are those required attributed to care and Maintenance to maintain the facility within Statutory and regulator constraints. In effect itis the minimum spend required to maintain the facility in a safe state. |
| Operational Plants | Plants which perform Commercial Operations or are supporting decommissioning operations but are not in themselves currently being decommissioned. |
| Optioneering | The process of identifying the differnt methods of achieving a defined goal and selecting a preferred method. |
| OS | Ordnance Survey |
| OSPAR | The Oslo-Paris convention, which established requirements on the level of nuclear and non-nuclear, discharges to the marine environment of the North East Atlantic, the North Sea and the Irish Sea. |
| PA/PR | Public Affairs/Public Relations |
| Parent Company | In the NDA’s contracting structure a Parent Company bids to own a Site Licence Company (SLC). The Parent Company may form a holding company to hold the shares in that SLC. This Parent Company then parachutes in a management team to run the SLC. |
| PAT | Portable Appliance Testing |
| Passively safe | Making a facility passively safe effectively means putting it into a state where it does not require operator action. |
| PBA | Parent Body Agreement |
| PBI | Performance Base Indicators. Performance-Based Incentives Key goals, objectives, targets or milestones agreed at the beginning of a financial year and of sufficient importance to warrant incentivisation (typically through a fee) to motivate the contractor to achieve. |
| PBO | Parent Body Organisation |
| PCM | Plutonium Contaminated Materials |
| PCmSR | Pre-Commissioning Safety Report |
| PCP | Programme Control Procedures |
| PCPA | Post Closure Performance Assessment |
| PCSC | Post-Closure Safety Case |
| PCSPS | Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme |
| PCSR | Pre-Construction Safety Case Report |
| PDSC | Post Defuelling Safety Case |
| PERA | Preliminary Environmental and Radiological Assessment |
| PFI | Public Finance Initiative. PFI allows the public sector to contract with the private sector to provide quality services on a long-term basis, so as to take advantage of private sector management skills incentivised by having private finance at risk. |
| PFR | Prototype Fast Reactor |
| PIE | Post Irradiation Examination |
| PIN | Prior Information Notice |
| PMA | Positive Management Action |
| PMSC | Package Movement Safety Case |
| PNTL | Pacific Nuclear Transport Limited. A subsidiary of BNFL that operates a fleet of purpose built ships capable of carrying all categories of nuclear material. |
| POCO | Post Operational Clean Out. The first stage in preparing plant for care and maintenance after operations have ceased. |
| Portfolio Management | The reallocation of funds from one site to another site that is better placed to bring forward planned work. |
| POSC | Post-Operational Safety Case |
| PPE | Personal Protective Equipment |
| PPG | Planning Policy Guidance |
| PPP | Public Private Partnership |
| PQQ | Pre Qualification Questionnaire |
| Prioritisation | A process which identifies, in terms of a contibution to overall NDA progress, the relative importance of individual projects - both on a site and on a UK basis. It answers the question 'if i could only undertake one project at a time, what order should the projects be performed?'. The output of projects in order of importance as judged by the Project Benefit Measure and taking account of any Stakeholder Modifiers. |
| Priority | Something meriting or given attention before competing alternatives. |
| Programming | The act of arranging projects in a logical sequence with appropriate timing and resources. |
| Project | A collection of activities with defined start and finish points. Note, for prioritisation projects or parts of projects that exist in the programme may be grouped. For example if a new plant is required to condition some waste the construction and operation of the plant may be different projects in the programme but will be prioritied together as part of the overall SED Reduction Project. |
| Project Benefit Method | A relative meausre of the benefit of an individual SED Redution Project in terms of performance against a range of stakeholder metrics, normalised for project cost and duration. |
| PRPCC | Partial Relocation of Primary Circuits Components |
| PSA | Public Service Agreement |
| PSR | Preliminary Safety Report |
| Public Dose | Radiation dose delivered to the public as a result of direct radiation ('shine') or by discharges of liquid and gaseous radioactive wastes. See 'Collective Dose' and 'Critical Group Dose'. |
| PSWBS | Programme Summary Work Breakdown Structure |
| PWG | Prioritisation Working Group |
| PWR | Pressurised Water Reactor - a reactor whose primary coolant is maintained under such a pressure that no bulk boiling occurs. The reactor uses water as a moderator or as a coolant. In the UK, Sizewell B is one such reactor operated by British Energy. |
| QA | Quality Assurance |
| QAP | Quality Assurance Programme |
| QC | Quality Control |
| R&D | Research and Development |
| R&T | Research and Technology |
| RAMSAR | A wetland of international importance under the RAMSAR convention |
| Radioactive Half-Life | The time required for one half of the atoms of a particular radionuclide to disintegrate. Each radionuclide has a unique half-life |
| Radioactive Waste | Any material contaminated by or incorporating radioactivity above thresholds defined in legislation is known as radioactive waste. |
| Radiological Hazard Potential (RHP) | A measure of the harm that could be caused by the radiological properties of a material in the form it is in (See Hazard) |
| Rank | The score attributed to a project or plant relative to others based upon the project or plant attributes. |
| Ranking | Placing projects in an order of preference. |
| Risk | The comination of the chance and consequence that someone or something that is valued will be adversly affected in a stipulated way by the hazard. |
| RCEP | Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution. |
| RCF | Rock Characterisation Facility |
| RDA | Regional Development Agency |
| Reactor Core | The part of a nuclear reactor, which contains the fuel elements. |
| Reactor Pressure Vessel | A reactor vessel designed to withstand a substantial operating pressure. |
| Remediation | A general term for providing a remedy. Environmental remediation deals with the removal of pollution or contaminants from soil, groundwater, sediment, or surface water etc, for the general protection of human health and the environment. |
| Reprocessing | The removal of the metal casing from around the fuel and dissolving the fuel in hot, concentrated nitric acid. The uranium, plutonium and waste, which are dissolved in this way, are then separated from each other using several chemical processes. In the UK this work is carried out at Sellafield. |
| RF | Release Fraction |
| RHILW | Remote Handled Intermediate Level Waste |
| RIDDOR | Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations |
| RM2 | Retrieval Machine 2 |
| RPA | Radiation Protection Adviser |
| RPII | Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland |
| RPPM | Radiological Protection Policy Manual |
| RPV | Reactor Pressure Vessel |
| RSA 93 | Radioactive Substances Act, 1993 |
| RSRL | Research Sites Restoration Limited |
| RSTC | Reusable Shielded Transport Container |
| Rutherford Indemnity Limited | A wholly-owned subsidiary of the NDA, acts as an insurer. |
| RWMAC | Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee |
| RWMC | Radioactive Waste Management Committee |
| SAC | Special Area for Conservation |
| SAFEGROUNDS learning network | A forum for developing and disseminating good practice guidance on the management of radiological and chemically contaminated land on nuclear and defence sites in the UK. www.safegrounds.com |
| Safety & Environmental Detriment Curve | A method of measuring the extent to which a given work programme or outcome meets the overall mission of the NDA. The SED Reduction Measure has been designed to provide a measure of whether or not SLCs are doign the right thing, i.e. timely |
| Safety & Environmental Detriment Measure (SED) | An assessment at a point in time of concern generated by a facility, site or on a UK basis using the Hazard Potential, Safety factors, and ongoing impact on the environment. The change in the SED score forms one of the NDA's progress measures in demonstrating that it is delivering on its mission. |
| SAND | Scotland Against Nuclear Dumping |
| SAP | Safety Assessment Principle |
| SC | Safety Case |
| SCC | Stress Corrosion Cracking |
| Schedule | A time sequence of activities and events that represent an operating timetable. |
| Scheduling | The process of programming activities of projects on a site to maximise the achievement of NDA Progress Measures within the constraints of practical achievability, resource and the Site Funding Limit. |
| Schedule Management | The management or re-arrangement of the activities within the overall programme to improve the outcome. This management will be based on the latest available information on topics such as actual progress, changes to scope or external circumstances, or resource constraints. |
| SCO | Surface-Contaminated Objects |
| Scope | Description of a project. It includes the start and end point and an outline of the method. |
| Scoring | Process of calculating a numerical score based upon specific attributes. |
| Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) | The Scottish equivalent of the Environment Agency. |
| SDP | Sodium Disposal Plant |
| SE | Scottish Executive. The Scottish Executive is the devolved government for Scotland and the NDA’s sponsoring government body in Scotland. www.scotland.gov.uk |
| SEA | Strategic Environmental Assessment |
| Sealed Source | A device in which a radioactive material has been contained within an outer casing. This outer casing makes an accidental release of the contents extremely unlikely. Sealed sources have an extensive range of medical, educational and industrial uses, notably in general diagnosis and cancer treatments, and in the oil and gas industries. |
| SED Reduction Project | The basic 'building blocks' of site programmes which are to be prioritised. SED Reduction Pojects cover all clean up activities on all plants, including contaminated land. Each will be aimed at remediating a particular waste inventory and will have defined scope, start and end points. |
| Sellafield (Cumbria) | Home to nuclear reprocessing operations, as well as waste management and fuel recycling operations. The site was opened in 1947. |
| SEPA | Scottish Environment Protection Agency. The environmental regulatory body for Scotland. www.sepa.org.uk |
| Serco | Serco assurance business provides specialist technical support to the UK nuclear industry. Is part of the consortium that makes up UK Nuclear Waste Management Ltd. |
| SFAIRP | So Far As Is Reasonably Acheiveable |
| SFOT | Swiss Federal Office of Transport |
| SFS | Spent Fuel Services |
| SGHWR | Steam Generating Heavy Water Reactor |
| SI | Statutory Instrument |
| SILW | Shielded Intermediate-Level Waste |
| SILWR | Solid Intermediate Level Waste Retrieval |
| Sizewell A (Suffolk) | Site of a Magnox power station (two reactors) that operated since 1966 |
| SIR | Sellafield Incident Report |
| SKB | Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company |
| SLC | Site Licence Company. Entity that holds the nuclear site licence and the discharge authorisations for a UK nuclear site. The SLC carries out the daily management and operations of the site under contract to the NDA. |
| SMP | The Sellafield MOX Plant. |
| SOLA | Substances of Low Activity |
| SoS | Secretary of State |
| SPA | Special Protection Area |
| Spent Fuel | Spent nuclear fuel is fuel removed from a reactor after final use. The main commercial UK fuels are Magnox, AGR and PWR. Typically, spent fuel is made up of approximately 96% un-reacted uranium, 1% plutonium, and 3% waste products. The precise composition depends largely on the type of reactor and the amount of power produced by the fuel. |
| Springfields Fuel Ltd | The SLC with the licence to manage and operate the Springfields site. |
| SPP | Sludge Packaging Plant |
| SPV | Special Purpose Vehicles |
| SPRS | Sellafield Product and Residue Store |
| SQEP | Suitably Qualified and Experienced Person |
| SRF | Senior Regulatory Forum. The NDA holds a regular meeting with senior representatives from each of the Regulators; the safety, security and environment directors from each of the Site Licence Companies; and representatives from government. The objective of the Senior Regulatory Forum is to identify and resolve any potential barriers to delivering the NDA strategy. The Senior Regulatory Forum has replaced the National NDA Industry and Regulator Forum (NNIRF), formerly the National Regulator Forum (NRF), which similarly had a remit to discuss matters of mutual interest to the NDA, Site Licence Companies and the Regulators in order to deliver the NDA’s mission to reduce hazards and successfully decommission the nuclear sites under its control. |
| SSG | Site Stakeholder Group |
| SSSI | Site of Special Scientific Interest |
| Stakeholder | We consider a stakeholder to be any person or organisation that has a declared interest in our work. |
| Storage | Is the emplacement of waste in a suitable facility with the intent to retrieve it at a later date. |
| Studsvik AB | This is a major international company with over 50 years’ experience in nuclear services. The company currently has research contracts with the NDA. www.erslimited.co.uk |
| SVA | Swiss Association for Atomic Energy |
| TC | Transport Container |
| THORP | Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant. |
| Trawsfynydd (Gwynedd) | Site of a Magnox power station (two reactors) that operated from 1965 to 1993. This station is the only one not built on the coast. A lake provided its water supplies. |
| TILWSP | Transportable Intermediate Level Waste Solidification Plant. |
| Time-based metric | The difference between a metric at the start and end of a group of projects divided by the time taken to effect the projects. |
| Toshiba | Owner of Westinghouse Electric Company. |
| TUPE | Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations. These provide for terms and conditions to be protected upon transfer as a matter of law. This will cover severance pay, early retirement following redundancy and injury benefits. |
| TWA | Time Weighted Average |
| TWh | Terawatt hours |
| UF6 | Uranium Hexafluoride |
| UHI | University of the Highlands and Islands |
| UILW | Unshielded Intermediate-Level Waste |
| UKAEA | United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. UKAEA is a Non-Departmental Government Body which has a historical role in Nuclear Research. It conducted pioneering research into Nuclear Energy between the 1940s and 1960s. Under contract to the NDA it is currently managing the clean-up of four sites. UKAEA also manages the nuclear research programme and Fusion Research in the UK (Joint European Torus - JET at Culham). www.ukaea.org.uk |
| UKAEAC | United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary. The former name for the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) |
| UKCEED | United Kingdom Centre for Economic and Environmental Development |
| UKGAAP | UK General Accepted Accounting Practices |
| UKNWM Ltd | UK Nuclear Waste Management Ltd. Consortium lead by URS Corporation - Washington Division and including Studsvik, Areva and Serco Assurance |
| Uranics | The UK has significant quantities of materials containing uranium (commonly known as uranics). This uranic material can be generally considered as one of five main types:
|
| Urenco | A Uranium enrichment business, based at Marlow in Buckinghamshire. |
| URL | Underground Research Laboratory |
| URS Group | Lead in consortium that makes up UK Nuclear Waste Management, the Parent Body Organisation for LLWR. |
| USDOE | United States Department of Energy |
| VWHLW | Vitrified High Level Waste |
| Very Low Level Waste (VLLW) | Covers wastes with very low concentrations of radioactivity. This waste arises from a variety of sources, including hospitals and the wider non-nuclear industry. Because VLLW contains little total radioactivity, it has been safely treated as it has arisen by various means, such as disposal with domestic refuse directly at landfill sites or indirectly after incineration. |
| Vitrification | The process of turning highly active liquors into solid glass to make them stable. |
| VRR | Vitrified Residue Return |
| WAGR | Windscale Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactor |
| WAMAC | Waste Monitoring and Compaction Facility |
| WANO | World Association of Nuclear Operators. An organisation created to improve safety at every nuclear power plant in the world. WANO was formed in May 1989 with nuclear operators worldwide uniting to exchange operating experience in a culture of openness, so members can work together to achieve the highest possible standards of nuclear safety. www.wano.org.uk |
| WBS | Work Breakdown Structure |
| Weighting | Assigning the relative importance of different attributes or metrics. |
| WEP | Waste Encapsulation Plant |
| Westinghouse Electric Company | Provides fuel, services, technology, plant design and equipment to utility and industrial customers in the worldwide commercial nuclear electric power industry. It has a contract with the NDA for the management of the Springfields site. Westinghouse was sold by BNFL to Toshiba in 2006. www.westinghousenuclear.com |
| Westlakes | A Science park that aims to stimulate the knowledge base in West Cumbria thereby contributing to its economic regeneration and sustainability. It is also the location of the NDA's headquarters. |
| West Lakes Renaissance | The urban regeneration company for Furness and West Cumbria. West Lakes Renaissance is attempting to turn around the economy of this area which has and still is suffering from industrial decline, resulting in out-migration (particularly of young people), unemployment and a worn-out infrastructure. www.westlakesrenaissance.co.uk |
| Westlakes Research Institute | During the late 1980s, an innovative partnership was forged between local government and local industries to address concern over economic dependency on the nuclear industry, to stimulate the local economy and to revitalise West Cumbria. The West Cumbria Development Fund was formed to capture and facilitate ideas and actions arising from the partnership. One such idea, a Science Park in West Cumbria, became a reality when in the early 1990s, with the help of the Rural Development Commission, European and Regional funding, work began on a flagship development known as The Westlakes Science & Technology Park. At the core of this development sits the Westlakes Research Institute providing the academic/R&D focus that was vital to the establishment of the Park and which is integral to future growth. www.westlakes.org |
| WETP | Waste Encapsulation Treatment Plant |
| White Paper | Managing the Nuclear Legacy: A Strategy for Action. In July 2002, the Government and Devolved Administrations published a White Paper in which it outlined its proposals for improving the way the clean-up of Britain’s nuclear sites and facilities is managed. In particular, the White Paper recommended that a new body should be established to report to Government with a specific remit to clean-up the UK’s civil nuclear legacy. That organisation is the NDA. |
| WIDRAM | Waste Inventory Disposition Route Assessment Model |
| Windscale (Cumbria) | A small enclave located within the Sellafield site and is the focus for two important nuclear decommissioning projects - the Windscale Piles and the prototype Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactor. |
| Winfrith (Dorset) | Created as a centre for prototype reactor development in the 1960's. It houses a number of redundant prototype reactors, including the Steam Generating Heavy Water reactor. The site is on the fast track for decommissioning and site restoration. Winfrith Technology Centre is being developed as a focus for business development in Dorset. |
| WIPP | Waste Isolation Pilot Plant |
| Workforce Dose | The radiation dose recieved by the workforce - often measured while performing a specific project or task. |
| WPEP | Waste Packaging and Encapsulation Plant |
| WNA | World Nuclear Association. The World Nuclear Association The WNA, formerly known as the Uranium Institute, is a worldwide network for nuclear-generated electricity producers. The Institute promotes the peaceful use of nuclear energy as a means of supplying the world’s growing energy demand. www.world-nuclear.org |
| WNMM | Waste & Nuclear Materials Management |
| WRACS | Waste Receipt Assay Characterisation and Supercompaction |
| WRAP | Waste and Resources Action Programme |
| WRATS | Wastes Requiring Additional Treatments |
| WSA | Western Storage Area |
| WTP | Waste Treatment Plant |
| Wylfa (Gwynedd) | Site of a Magnox power station (two reactors) that commenced operation in 1971. |