U.K. nuclear giant Sellafield Ltd. and the National Nuclear Laboratory receive the Outstanding Achievement in Chemical and Process Engineering Award, sponsored by ExxonMobil, at the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) Global Awards. Their collaborative project, which utilizes digital twinning technology to optimize the facility used to treat radioactive effluent from nuclear decommissioning and operational facilities, won the Water Award earlier in the evening. The judges reportedly were so impressed that they crowned the organizations the overall winners of the IChemE Global Awards 2022.
By accurately replicating the behavior of a treatment plant, the project enables the optimization of plant control and performance. The model has been internationally recognized as a best practice for nuclear facilities and has been identified as business critical to the U.K. government.
“In the midst of 14 worthy winners across different fields of engineering, this project stood out because it supports almost all U.K. nuclear activities which are set to become increasingly important as we grapple with current energy issues and the need to safely increase nuclear contribution as we move towards net zero,” says Head Judge Keith Batcheor in a press release from IChemE. “Most critically, it protects local and international populations from the significant impact of effluent discharged to sea.”
Sellafield also receives the Process Safety Award for their work to safely remove highly hazardous waste from the 1960s-built Magnox Swarf Storage Silo (MSSS) on their site.
Read the entire press release at: www.icheme.org
