Eadon Consulting is pleased that factory acceptance tests carried out this week for the diamond wire cutter tool developed in response to Sellafield Ltd’s LINC 19 challenge have been successful.

Sellafield needed a method of remotely cutting and removing an obstruction that was discovered in front of a bay entrance in one of the storage ponds. The metal object was preventing ROV access required for decommissioning activities.

Eadon identified diamond wire cutting as being the most appropriate technique that would meet the requirements in terms of remotely cutting the metal. While this technique is typically used on large-scale demolition projects, we found the same technique being used on a smaller-scale for gem cutting and decided that this method could be adapted for the Sellafield application.

Using our experience from the test rig development, as well as drawing on other ongoing research and development projects, we were able to use a number of off-the-shelf components and technologies, accelerating the development time whilst also reducing cost and improving reliability.

The client was pleased with what we demonstrated and the success of this FAT testing marks an important milestone for the project.