A BIRCHWOOD company has been tasked with helping with the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Amec Foster Wheeler have been appointed by Japan’s nuclear decommissioning organisation to carry out a major study into the managing of radioactive waste at the Fukushima Daiichi power station, which suffered partial meltdown on March 11 2011.

The release of radioactive materials was the largest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

Clive White, president of Amec Foster Wheeler’s Clean Energy Business, said: “Our work will make both a significant contribution to the Fukushima remediation programme and will also form the basis for further initiatives to adapt waste management tools to the specific requirements and conditions and Fukushima.

“We will bring to this out world-class nuclear decommissioning expertise, which includes a thorough understanding of how to deal with radioactive waste so that the health of the public and site workers is protected.”

Amec Foster Wheeler employs 1,200 people across sites at Birchwood Park Business Park and Knutsford.

The company’s work will assist the Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corporation (NDF) to develop a long-term waste management strategy for the site.

Their review will be carried out by a specialist project team with experience of providing similar services to the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority at Sellafield and to relevant projects in Europe and the USA.

They will identify practical planning tools to support the future development of a waste management strategy for NDF at Fukushima, design case studies to demonstrate how the tools can be applied to deliver the best practicable environmental option for dealing with radioactive waste and run workshops based on these case studies to provide NDF staff with practical training.

Kazuyuki Kato, managing director of NDF, said: “It is an important development that Amec Foster Wheeler has joined those who are supporting the restoration of Fukushima Daiichi.”