Webtool Steel Cutter for Sellafield Decommissioning

Allspeeds has supplied Webtool cutting tools to Sellafield Ltd for the removal of steel infrastructure from decanning bays previously used to store spent fuel rods and operational waste. The tooling package has significantly reduced the time and complexity of cutting steel sections during decommissioning operations.

In total 12 decanning bays adjacent to the main Pile Fuel Storage Pond are being decommissioned. The practicalities of cutting the steelwork as a series of multiple steel sections both above and below the water ruled out conventional cutting methods. Allspeeds developed a Webtool guillotine cutter capable of slicing through steel channels measuring up to 203 x 102 mm (8” x 4”).

The Webtool guillotine action provides a clean cut with negligible waste, avoiding the swarf associated with using an angle grinder, for example. Weighing 235kg, the Webtool RCV215A tool includes a lifting frame designed to hold the tool in multiple positions and orientations.  Once lowered onto the steel section, the tool’s hydraulically activated anvil wraps around the steel section and the blade is deployed, completing the cut in a few seconds. A key operational benefit of the Webtool cutter is the minimal blade changes compared with using grinders and saws.

“The Webtool cutter has proven to be highly effective both above and below water, enabling us to use a single tool for the steel works removal project,” says Clark Mossop, project engineer, Sellafield Ltd. 

The complete Webtool steel section cutting package includes the RCV215A (215mm guillotine cutter) and full lifting kit including lifting frame, slings, hydraulic pump and hoses.

For more information on Webtool and Nuclear Decommissioning, call  +44 (0)1254 615100, email: info@allspeeds.co.uk, and visit www.allspeeds.co.uk.