Case Study - Optioneering and Decision Support

Prepared by:Andy Linley

Scope of Work 

To undertake a detailed review of Wet Waste Strategy (WWS) at a reactor site in the process of being decommissioned in order to determine how the wet waste retrieval projects could be delivered more effectively and economically.

Background to the project

The client’s previous remediation strategy required the demolition of the Ponds complex, including all vaults currently containing Intermediate Level Waste (ILW) material. Once emptied and cleaned of mobile ILW, the redundant vaults can be removed. However, as decommissioning progressed, it became clear that the costs and timescales associated for these activities were more costly and time-consuming than originally envisaged. Since the reactor site in question is one of a fleet, the implications of these increases caused concern to the client.

A detailed review of the client’s WWS was therefore approved internally and endorsed by its stakeholders in April 2008. This aimed to demonstrate value for money to both the Site Licence Holder and external stakeholders, with the aim of reducing costs and programme durations wherever possible, whilst still delivering the same end point.

DBD deliverables

As this review was complex and involved many different areas, the client divided the review into three separate work streams. These work streams were aimed at removing cost from the baseline whilst still delivering the same end point, either by using the same technologies in a more efficient manner or finding alternatives. DBD were brought in by the client as an independent and impartial body to ensure that all of the work streams were working to the same level of rigour and that the resulting output of all of the work streams could be brought together into a single, cohesive set of recommendations.

DBD oversaw the work carried out by the work streams and applied the principles of D2O, a robust decision making and optioneering process which was rigorous, transparent and auditable.

The Results

D2O provided a systematic means of developing and evaluating options that enabled the output from all three work streams to be presented in a consistent way. This in turn enabled the outputs to be compared and evaluated on a common basis despite being at varying levels of design maturity.

Client Benefits

• The delivery of several options by an impartial third party

• The output of differing work streams was brought together in a single, overarching report for presentation to the client’s stakeholders

• Options available which were able to cut 24% of project spend and accelerate the overall project

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