For fuel route operators who need remote handling, proven reliability and safety case substantiation from a single turnkey partner…
Engineering for the nuclear fuel cycle
Fuel route equipment lifts some of the most valuable and safety-significant loads on a licensed site, and it is expected to keep doing so for decades.
SCX designs and builds high-integrity cranes and handling systems for fuel production facilities, fuel buildings, spent fuel cask movements and the waste streams created along the way.
We take on the whole job: design, build, commissioning and in-service support, as one turnkey package. Each system is matched to its duty, with remote operation and automation, uncontrolled load mitigation, segregated nuclear protection and Class 1 design where the safety case calls for it.
Why fuel route handling is different
Fuel route cranes carry casks, flasks and packages where dropped or uncontrolled loads are national news.
Many of these assets were specified decades ago, and changes of use, such as moving to dry fuel storage, bring new safety functional requirements that the original equipment was never designed for.
The Solution
Whether the answer is a new crane or an upgrade to an existing one, we start from the safety case.
Our engineers substantiate each design against it, then build in diverse, independent layers of protection, so that no single fault can compromise a lift.
Control systems give operators real-time status, full audit trails and, where needed, operation from a safe distance.
Once in service, we stay involved to keep equipment available for the long term.
Fuel route projects
Sizewell B 152t fuel building crane upgrade
- Control and protection systems overhauled for EDF’s new dry fuel cask duty
- Three-tier nuclear protection: new control system plus two diverse, hard-wired layers
- Safety-critical systems simulated at SCX’s Barrow Road facility before installation on site
Semi-automated raft cranes for fuel manufacture waste
- Two outdoor, semi-automated raft cranes handling LLW from new fuel manufacture
- Semi-automated, remote operation to keep operators at a safe distance
- Segregated control, power and safety systems
NRS Berkeley fuel element debris cranes
- Two identical 32-tonne cranes for the fuel element debris (FED) import/export facility
- Twin hoists, each protected by a MotoSuiveur MS3 load arrest device
- Semi-automated remote operation to meet Berkeley’s enhanced safety case
Safety case benefits with MotoSuiveur
- Fail-safe load arrest device secures hazardous payloads
- Stops unintentional interlock trips for improved efficiency
- Fewer man accesses required for maintenance and retrievals
