The cleaning and decontamination work carried out for the European Commission at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Ispra, Italy, concluded in August with the delivery of the final report. According to Lainsa’s Director for Europe and Asia, José Tomás Ruiz Martínez, “the objectives were all met, both in terms of quality and service efficiency, and the client is very satisfied, because for them this is a new way of conducting the work, with safety and efficiency”.

The work consisted in the design and implementation of a system to transfer radioactive sludge from one tank to another in Area 52 and ensure a safe, leak-free transfer using fundamental principles of physics. A triple-barrier transfer system was used and the tank was then decontaminated using a technique designed to minimize the creation of secondary waste. In this way, tank L1, which stored the sludge, has been decontaminated at its old location and awaits a decision from JRC on its future.

This project represented a milestone for Lainsa, firstly because it involved winning our first international tender for the European Commission, in which ten companies from several countries competed. It also involved integrating the operations engineering on site, as well as drawing up the procedures.