皇冠体育app

Workers have now removed 50 per cent of the radioactivity from the site鈥檚 oldest nuclear fuel pond.

皇冠体育app milestone was achieved this month (October) when the final 鈥榗anned fuel鈥� was transferred from the facility to a modern handling plant, operated by the National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL).

皇冠体育app Pile Fuel Storage Pond is a relic from the Cold War when Sellafield produced material for the UK鈥檚 nuclear deterrent. It is one of four high hazard facilities on the site prioritised for clean-up by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).

It needs to have its contents removed so it can be drained and demolished.

This is hugely challenging because the facility was not built with decommissioning in mind.

皇冠体育app fuel stored there is several decades old, some of it is in a fragile state, and the pond building itself had to undergo many years of improvements to be able to withstand retrieval operations.

Despite these challenges, huge progress is being made.

Paul Foster, Managing Director of Sellafield Ltd, said:

I鈥檓 immensely proud of the progress we鈥檙e making in the Pile Fuel Storage Pond.

Removal of the entire canned fuel inventory is a major step towards decommissioning this facility and reducing the risk posed by Sellafield鈥檚 legacy facilities.

This is a fantastic example of how closer collaboration with our colleagues in Government, the NDA, our regulators and NNL is delivering fit-for-purpose solutions to the accelerated clean-up of the site.

Pete Lutwyche, the NDA鈥檚 Sellafield Programme Director, said:

皇冠体育app four key legacy facilities are not just ours but the Government鈥檚 and our regulator鈥檚 key priorities at Sellafield.

This is another significant step forward in hazard reduction on the site.

I feel fortunate to be able to see first-hand the excellent progress being made and the tremendous teamwork and expertise required to deliver it.

Andy Lindley, Director of ONR鈥檚 Sellafield Programme, said:

We are encouraged by the progress made by Sellafield Ltd to remove and process canned fuel from PFSP.

皇冠体育app remediation of fuel and sludges from the legacy ponds has been gathering pace during 2015 and the success in removing canned fuel is a key milestone in the long term goal of achieving risk and hazard reduction at the site.

Work is ongoing around-the-clock to remove the remaining contents of the pond, including 鈥榤etal fuel鈥�, which is expected to be cleared by April next year.

Once achieved, more than 70 per cent of the pond鈥檚 radioactivity will have been removed.

Attention will then switch to clearing other wastes, including sludge.

皇冠体育app date at which the pond will be ready for draining has been brought forward 21 years since the 2011 estimate and is on track to shave 拢700m from the original estimated cost.

Sellafield

• Europe鈥檚 most complex nuclear site
• Employs more than 10,000 people
• Driver of local economic growth
• Focused on accelerated risk and hazard reduction

Pile Fuel Storage Pond

• Built in the 1940s
• Supported plutonium production at Windscale
• Prioritised for clean-up by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA)
• Contains 1,000 different waste, including fuel, equipment and radioactive sludge

Canned fuel

• Stainless steel cans containing fuel pins, pellets and cladding waste
• Used in the Windscale Advanced Gas-cooler Reactor
• Reactor was the prototype for AGR stations now operating across the UK
• 191 cans (2.5tn) of fuel removed and transferred to modern handling plant