The Environment Agency publish permits that they issue under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).
This decision includes the permit and decision document for:
What do 40 beds, 96 chairs, 49 cushions and 163 mattresses have in common?
They all fell off vehicles and onto England’s motorways, where they were found by Highways England traffic officers.
The list of flying furniture also includes 52 sofas and 17 tables.
Badly secured items that fall onto busy, high-speed roads are a danger that causes delays and even collisions. The average incident like this takes 20 minutes to clear up, often disrupting other road users.
In a bid to keep the roads clear of domestic debris, Highways England has launched this campaign to encourage drivers with bulky items to make sure they are properly secure.
The message is simple: let’s all get home in one piece.
Highways England project manager Amelia Kirwan said:
We want all drivers and their items to get home in one piece. If you’re buying or moving furniture this weekend, use proper straps that are strong enough for the job. Don’t risk losing your stuff, and causing other drivers to become delayed, injured or worse.
Our traffic officers picked up around 600 items such as mattresses, sofas and chairs during a nine month period. So before you set off, check your load is secure and your view is clear of obstructions.
Research for Highways England, which is responsible for England’s motorways and major A-roads, found that nearly 9 out of 10 cars observed did not have any method of securing heavy loads inside a vehicle. If the driver stopped or changed direction suddenly, this creates a serious risk that a load can be thrown forward through the windscreen or hit vehicle occupants.
‘Let’s all get home in one piece’ is one of a number of Highways England safety warnings for drivers this bank holiday.
Drivers should also do a quick series of checks before setting off. Almost half of all breakdowns are caused by simple mechanical problems that could be avoided by simply checking fuel levels, tyres, engine oil, water and lights.
A few minutes spent planning journeys and checking road conditions before setting off can also save time and frustration later. Tourist routes are likely to be particularly busy this weekend.
Drivers can get live traffic information on the Traffic England website.
Travel information is also available by phone from the Highways England Customer Contact Centre on 0300 123 5000, and updates are provided via Twitter.
Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.
Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.
Britain remains more committed than ever to our longstanding allies in the face of evolving and intensifying threats, including chemical and biological weapons, reaffirmed Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson today.
Speaking from the Joint Expeditionary Force’s (JEF) military exercise on Salisbury Plain, the Defence Secretary made clear the importance of the joint force in which the UK plays a leading role as the ‘framework nation’, working closely alongside Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.
Attending with Chiefs of Defence from all nine JEF member nations, Mr Williamson also commended the JEF’s ability to react to the full spectrum of operations, from humanitarian assistance and conventional deterrence, through to combat operations.
Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said:
Nations are judged by the friends they keep. The exercise today sends a clear message to our allies and adversaries alike – our nations have what it takes to keep our people safe and secure in an uncertain world.
From counter-terrorism and anti-smuggling to information warfare, we are stronger by sharing expertise and developing joint tactics across air, land, sea and cyber.
The live capability demonstration featured troops from the nine JEF nations, including troops from the UK Parachute Regiment, the Danish Jutland Dragoon Regiment, the Lithuanian “Iron Wolf” Brigade and the Latvian Mechanised Infantry Brigade, conducting urban combat operations with air support provided by Apaches, Chinooks, Wildcats and Tornados.
The exercise is the culmination of two weeks of intensive and specialised training across the country, ranging from amphibious and naval activity in Wales and Scotland to land based training in Wiltshire and air activity across the UK; all part of Exercise Joint Warrior.
Nearly 12,000 military personnel from 17 nations took part in the training scenarios involving multiple sovereign nations disputing resources and territories; counter-terrorism and anti-smuggling activity; information warfare; and evacuation operations.
During his visit, Mr Williamson took time to visit the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), Porton Down who have provided a team of analytic specialists to the exercise. They provide vital analysis to support military commanders, giving crucial advice to help military leaders understand the risks and benefits of the decisions they make when planning tactical activities and manoeuvres during conflict.
DSTL Chief Executive Gary Aitkenhead said:
It has been an extraordinary time for all of us at Dstl, therefore it has been a pleasure to show the Defence Secretary some of the ground-breaking research that we do and the vital role Dstl plays in keeping our Armed Forces and the British public safe.
Our people are world-leaders in what they do and Mr Williamson’s visit today gave us an opportunity to showcase how we are delivering the Government’s priorities for defence and technology against a backdrop of ever changing threats.
Mr Williamson also met troops at Winterbourne Gunner who are helping with the decontamination efforts in Salisbury, following the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in March.
The long, flexible – a type of robotic arm – was passed through a narrow hole in the 3-metre thick concrete around the core, then sliced through a 400mm diameter vessel attached to the Dragon reactor core.
Contractors OC Robotics were called in by the Magnox team decommissioning Dragon when it became clear that removing the vessel, known as the Purge Gas Pre-Cooler (PGPC), would be a challenging task: one end was joined to the core in the high-radiation area behind the concrete shielding and several steel plates, while the other end extended outside the shielding.
The LaserSnake technology, developed by OC Robotics and TWI with R&D funding from the NDA, seemed perfect. Controlled from a distance by specialist operators, LaserSnake can squeeze through a small access hole, manoeuvre easily inside a very confined space and cut multiple layers with its high-powered laser. This allowed the work to be carried out inside the existing radiation shielding of the reactor.
Although LaserSnake had previously been deployed at Sellafield, the thick pipework, complex PGPC layout and limited access meant it was necessary to prepare 2 mock-ups which allowed comprehensive testing and rehearsals to take place before making the cuts for real.
In the end, less than 3 hours of actual cutting time were needed to free the PGPC from the reactor core.
NDA Head of Technology Melanie Brownridge said:
This is an excellent example of how early NDA R&D funding support enabled the technology to grow from an exploration of whether laser-cutting could actually be adapted for nuclear into a system that, with further funding and collaborative working, is now mature and being successfully deployed on a number of our sites.
Magnox Senior Project Manager Andy Philps added:
We believe this is the first time that laser-cutting technology has been deployed directly on the core of a nuclear reactor. The ability of the LaserSnake to carry out ‘keyhole surgery’ on the reactor core meant that the work could be carried out using existing protective shielding.
This has saved at least £200,000 and the radiation dose that would have accompanied building additional infrastructure, and saved four weeks on the programme’s critical path. It has also enabled us to remove this component earlier than originally planned.
Adam Mallion, from OC Robotics, said:
The difficult environment of the external core of the Dragon reactor was an ideal challenge to show the full capabilities of laser-cutting technology and snake-arm robots. Cutting something as thick as the 400mm PGPC with its complex internal geometry had never been attempted before.
The deployment showed once again that the OCR LaserSnake system could be set up and deployed quickly and efficiently to contribute towards safer, cheaper and faster decommissioning of the plant.
Dragon, a prototype high-temperature reactor cooled by helium, was developed in the 1960s as a joint European project involving 13 countries. After opening in 1964, it operated until 1975 when it was closed and defueled before being put into a passive ‘care and maintenance’ regime.
In 2011, decommissioning began in earnest. All that now remains is the reactor core contained in a pressure vessel surrounded by the concrete biological shield, 7 steel containment plates and an outer containment building.
Under the current programme, it is expected that the reactor core will be removed by 2021 and the facility demolished to ground level by 2022.
The long, flexible – a type of robotic arm – was passed through a narrow hole in the 3-metre thick concrete around the core, then sliced through a 400mm diameter vessel attached to the Dragon reactor core.
Contractors OC Robotics were called in by the Magnox team decommissioning Dragon when it became clear that removing the vessel, known as the Purge Gas Pre-Cooler (PGPC), would be a challenging task: one end was joined to the core in the high-radiation area behind the concrete shielding and several steel plates, while the other end extended outside the shielding.
The LaserSnake technology, developed by OC Robotics and TWI with R&D funding from the NDA, seemed perfect. Controlled from a distance by specialist operators, LaserSnake can squeeze through a small access hole, manoeuvre easily inside a very confined space and cut multiple layers with its high-powered laser. This allowed the work to be carried out inside the existing radiation shielding of the reactor.
Although LaserSnake had previously been deployed at Sellafield, the thick pipework, complex PGPC layout and limited access meant it was necessary to prepare 2 mock-ups which allowed comprehensive testing and rehearsals to take place before making the cuts for real.
In the end, less than 3 hours of actual cutting time were needed to free the PGPC from the reactor core.
NDA Head of Technology Melanie Brownridge said:
This is an excellent example of how early NDA R&D funding support enabled the technology to grow from an exploration of whether laser-cutting could actually be adapted for nuclear into a system that, with further funding and collaborative working, is now mature and being successfully deployed on a number of our sites.
Magnox Senior Project Manager Andy Philps added:
We believe this is the first time that laser-cutting technology has been deployed directly on the core of a nuclear reactor. The ability of the LaserSnake to carry out ‘keyhole surgery’ on the reactor core meant that the work could be carried out using existing protective shielding.
This has saved at least £200,000 and the radiation dose that would have accompanied building additional infrastructure, and saved four weeks on the programme’s critical path. It has also enabled us to remove this component earlier than originally planned.
Adam Mallion, from OC Robotics, said:
The difficult environment of the external core of the Dragon reactor was an ideal challenge to show the full capabilities of laser-cutting technology and snake-arm robots. Cutting something as thick as the 400mm PGPC with its complex internal geometry had never been attempted before.
The deployment showed once again that the OCR LaserSnake system could be set up and deployed quickly and efficiently to contribute towards safer, cheaper and faster decommissioning of the plant.
Dragon, a prototype high-temperature reactor cooled by helium, was developed in the 1960s as a joint European project involving 13 countries. After opening in 1964, it operated until 1975 when it was closed and defueled before being put into a passive ‘care and maintenance’ regime.
In 2011, decommissioning began in earnest. All that now remains is the reactor core contained in a pressure vessel surrounded by the concrete biological shield, 7 steel containment plates and an outer containment building.
Under the current programme, it is expected that the reactor core will be removed by 2021 and the facility demolished to ground level by 2022.