06 Jul Old thoughts in small bites

In a narrow and labyrinthine basement under Hot Cells, these days there is a persistent and lightning-fast bank. A couple of DD 's employees are in the process of cutting up two old tanks.

M Employees use a machine – a nibbler – that chews small, horseshoe-shaped chunks of the metal. This process does not dust as much as it would have done to saw through the tanks, nor is it necessary to use water cooling.

The two tanks have been part of Risø's underground pipe system, where the so-called active water from, among other things, cleaning cabinets and certain sinks has been collected. The amount of active water activities is decreasing, so the piping system is now gradually shut down. Over time, radioactive substances from the waste water have set its mark, which is why it is important not to spread the radioactivity through dust and water when pipes and tanks are cut up and removed.

The cramped basement leaves little room to manoeuvre on, so the bits of the tanks are hoisted up from the depths of a container and then duly treated. Once each of these two tanks is removed, the team can continue over under the DR 3 reactor, where two more superfluous tanks await.