The Princess Royal toured the NDA’s £21 million facility in Wick accompanied by Chief Executive Officer David Peattie, who said:

We are extremely honoured to have received a visit from The Princess Royal to open Nucleus. It has been fantastic to see this important project come to fruition as a resource to preserve records from the country’s nuclear industry, as well as historical material from the Caithness region.

Her Royal Highness was greeted on arrival by Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of Caithness, Viscount Thurso. Also among the invited guests were the Lord Lieutenant’s wife Lady Thurso, former Lord Lieutenant Miss Anne Dunnett, MP Jamie Stone, MSP Gail Ross, representatives from Dounreay Stakeholder Group and local councillors.

During the tour, The Princess Royal met key staff from the archive’s operations team, who described how the documents were prepared, indexed, stored in a series of secure pods, with humidity and temperature kept stable to minimise the potential for deterioration. Mr Peattie addressed assembled guests and staff before inviting Her Royal Highness to unveil the plaque.

Nucleus has a dual role: as well as records from the country’s nuclear sites, Nucleus houses a collection of local Caithness records that have outgrown their existing home.

Since opening last February, an exercise has been under way to transfer plans, photographs, drawings and other records from diverse nuclear locations. The first collection to arrive came from nearby Dounreay and is being followed by Harwell records.

The painstaking ‘sift and lift’ process, expected to last at least 5 years, requires millions more documents to be examined before being either destroyed or carefully indexed and packaged for the move north.

Sellafield Ltd alone has more than 130,000 boxes of archived records in off-site storage, plus material on site and in various offices – estimated as stretching, if laid out, to more than 120km worth of paperwork. The 12 Magnox Ltd sites have a similar-sized collection in storage. The number of electronic records across the estate is believed to number hundreds of millions.

Eventually, decades-worth of records, both digital and hard copy, will be housed at Nucleus where they will be available for ongoing research. The facility will also fulfil an important role for a future geological disposal facility (GDF) that is being developed for the UK, acting as a central repository for detailed waste records that will be safeguarded for many generations.

Earlier this year, Nucleus was granted Place of Deposit status by The National Archive at Kew, following a rigorous assessment of all operational aspects. It is one of the largest accredited repositories outside London.
The building’s sleek, angular lines have also collected two prestigious design awards from the Architects’ Journal including Public Building of the Year 2017.

Further background on the nuclear archive facility

The Clean Growth Strategy presented major policies and plans that will cut the cost of energy, drive economic growth, create high value jobs right across the UK, and improve our quality of life.

This call for evidence reaffirms that ambition by building on the commitment to phase out installation of high carbon fossil fuel heating in new and existing buildings off the gas grid, during the 2020s. The consultation document explains what we mean by this ambition, and seeks evidence on how we could implement it.

The heating industry has a vital role to play. It is essential for installers, suppliers and manufacturers in the coal and oil sectors to show leadership. Government will listen to, and work with, our experienced heating experts from all sectors of the industry. Our heating industry must retain its position as a world leader, seeing this process as an opportunity to lead the change that is necessary, and not let the world change without them. Phasing out high carbon fossil fuel heating may be a challenge, but it is also an opportunity for new jobs, new skills, and investment in innovation, as well as greater comfort and convenience for our households and businesses. Moreover, what we do now to decarbonise buildings off the gas grid may pave the way for future decarbonisation of the wider building stock.

We are seeking evidence from across society, in particular from both consumers and the heat market:

• those using or working with fossil fuels
• those using or working with low carbon alternatives.

This is essential so that we can explore the options available to take action during the 2020s and build consensus for that action.

On 1 August 2018, Mersey Docks and Harbour Company (MDHC) made a formal application to the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) under section 14 of the Harbours Act 1964 for a Harbour Revision Order (HRO) in respect of works to be undertaken within the limits of the Port by Liverpool City Council.

The Order would authorise the construction and maintenance of works and other facilities at the Port within the limits of deviation shown on the associated plans. The works comprise the construction of a reinforced concrete suspended deck, a cruise liner terminal building, a vehicular and pedestrian linkspan bridge, a new floating pontoon and two steel mono pile mooring dolphins.

The Order would also authorise the demolition of the existing timber and concrete decked jetty known as Princes Jetty, as well as modifications to the existing landing stage.
The application is undergoing a 42 day public consultation, starting on 10 August 2018. The deadline for submitting comments is 21 September 2018. For further information on the consultation process, please review the advertisement notice.

Due to file size constraints not all documents have been uploaded to the public register. Documents not included on the public register are detailed within the ‘Public Register Documents list’ included above. If you wish to be provided with any of these documents please contact the harbour orders team via the harbourorders@marinemanagement.org.uk inbox.

If you would like to make a representation please do so in writing via the harbourorders@marinemanagement.org.uk inbox. Representations should quote reference DC10147.

We want to know what you think about our draft Sea Fishing (Enforcement) Regulations 2018.

These regulations will clarify how things are enforced and reinstate some enforcement powers to Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Officers (IFCOs).

This will allow IFCOs to directly enforce EU fisheries conservation measures like rules on bass, blue fin tuna and marking of gear.

The Environment Agency publish permits that they issue under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).

This decision includes the permit and decision document for:

• Operator name: Nova Farming Ltd
• Installation name: Methwold Airfield Poultry Farm
• Permit number: EPR/ZP3936YE/A001