”It inspires me to reduce our nuclear footprint and what we need to hand over to the next generation”

Born in Stockholm and raised in Skåne Per Lidar chose to come back to the Swedish capital when it was time for university. He first considered becoming a medical doctor but realized during an internship at a hospital that a career as engineer suited his ambitions better. Per Lidar started his career at Studsvik while doing his PhD in Material Science in the late 80’s. Today he is working within Studsvik Consulting as senior advisor.

Can you describe what type of work you do here at Studsvik?

“Currently I work with different studies for the decommissioning of Norwegian research sites and related fuel/materials. Studsvik’s strength is that we have similar challenges and facilities for treating high level waste. The Studsvik site is the largest competence center in northern Europe in terms of waste treatment. My role in this study is to coordinate the technical content and contacts with the customer.”

Describe something Studsvik has supported a customer with that you are especially proud of.

“If only mentioning one example I would choose when Studsvik applied our knowledge within decommissioning and radwaste management on the MAX-lab in Lund. In this case the customer, Lund University, trusted us with the full freedom to optimize the decommissioning and radwaste management aiming to maximize the recycling rate and minimize the disposal volume. Studsvik managed to fulfil our commitments with very good results* and I am proud of how we as a strong Studsvik team worked together to achieve this project.

What is innovation to you and how does that influence your work in Studsvik?

“For me innovation can be when bits and pieces from existing products are compiled into a completely new optimized equipment for testing. One example of this is when we took four ‘blind’ gamma probes and transformed them into a Co-60 sensitive measuring cost effective device for clearance measurements at MAX-lab. Even the probe manufacturer was impressed and said it was never done before. It was possible to achieve this because of our skilled work force with long experience from activity measurement on waste packages. “

Any final thoughts on the future within waste treatment?

“There is a great potential in nuclear low-level waste metal treatment aiming for clearance and recycling. The total amount needed to be disposed of can be greatly reduced. It inspires me to reduce our nuclear footprint and what we need to hand over to the next generation. To me, that is taking responsibility for the future. “