Milestone for Chapelcross as store accepts first waste package
Magnox Limited has delivered a major decommissioning milestone at Chapelcross Site with the first active waste package placed into the site’s storage facility.
The first package was a Ductile Cast Iron Container (DCIC) containing waste from the site’s former cooling ponds.
The Interim Storage Facility (ISF) can hold over 700 waste packages of four different approved package types, and will be filled over the next five years as part of decommissioning work. Standing at 57m long and 23m wide, it has been constructed to safely and securely store packages for 120 years.
The delivery of this milestone involved significant work from multiple teams, both at Chapelcross and across Magnox.
Mark Blackley, Chapelcross Acting Site Director said:
The retrieval, processing and storage of this first package of intermediate level waste (ILW) is a great achievement for the site and I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in getting us to this position.
This is the first step on our path to safely secure all the ILW generated during Chapelcross’ operations, until final disposal options have been identified.
During operation, the reactors and processing facilities at Chapelcross generated various amounts of waste material, classified as either low or intermediate level depending on their level of radioactivity.
Whilst Low Level Waste (LLW) is sent off-site for treatment and disposal, the purpose-built ISF will securely store all the ILW on-site until such time that the Scottish Government Higher Activity Waste Policy identifies final storage and disposal options for Scotland’s nuclear ILW.
Construction of the Chapelcross ISF began in 2014 and the building includes mechanical handling systems so that processed and packaged waste can be stored safely, easily inspected, and removed safely.
John Grierson, Magnox Nuclear Operations Director, added:
I am really pleased that Chapelcross has achieved this significant milestone. It is the culmination of a larger work programme to design, manufacture, install and commission equipment required to retrieve, condition and store ILW on-site. I would like to express my gratitude to the Magnox workforce and our supply chain partners for their support.