Page 278 - Beyond Decommissioning

Experience and lessons learned 259

Fig. 6.44 The K Reactor Basin, Hanford, WA, USA.
Credit to DOE.

The conversion into homes of two disused, adjacent water reservoir tanks situated
on an elevated site in Barnacre-with-bonds, near Garstang, Lancashire, UK is pres-
ented in Suzi Darbyshire (2011).
The project addresses a large former water tank converted to a modern revisit of the
country home with six bedrooms, while the smaller tank is converted into a two-
bedroom holiday cottage. Daylight enters the main building through roof lights and
new glazed areas which frame attractive vistas toward the sea and adjacent pastures.
The project includes also a vast green roof, supporting native vegetation, with the
objective of augmenting biodiversity and harmonizing the building with the local
landscape. The building’s environmental features also include full thermal insulation
and low-energy systems; heat pumps, and PV panels provide renewable energy.
The main tank originally held 4500 m3 of water and was built of high-grade con-
crete. Borehole and lab testing concluded that the tank was “as new,” even after
40 operational years. The project retained major parts of the concrete structure, so con-
siderably reducing the impact of additional construction. More examples of water
tanks converted into homes are given in Daily Mail (2014) and ABC (2015).
In the 1960s, six steel lined concrete tanks at UKAEA Harwell site that held radio-
actively contaminated liquors reached the decommissioning stage. The tanks were
located within a concrete embankment at the Liquid Effluent Treatment Plant. As
usual in those years, the steel liners were removed, the concrete tanks were collapsed
and buried into the embankment, and a car park was installed on top.