Sellafield unveils new plant to support clean-up
A brand new plant is ready to help empty Sellafield’s most hazardous nuclear waste stores.
The construction project was a collaboration between Sellafield Ltd, Balfour Beatty and Cavendish Nuclear,
The Silos Maintenance Facility will house and maintain the machinery that will get the waste out of two of the oldest plants on the site.
It has taken nine years to build and is described as the site’s ‘Formula One pit lane’, a place where the machinery doing the most important job in UK nuclear decommissioning can be maintained in a safe, secure environment.
Silos Maintenance Facility unveiled at Sellafield
This is a major step towards emptying the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo and the Pile Fuel Cladding Silo, which is a top priority for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
Chris Halliwell, head of the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo for Sellafield Ltd said:
Getting this new facility ready is a huge success story for the Sellafield clean-up mission.
It will play an important role in the UK’s hazard reduction programme and is testament to the collaboration between Sellafield Ltd and our supply chain partners, Balfour Beatty and Cavendish Nuclear.
Not only was the project delivered to time and budget but it also has an impeccable safety record, to have had five and a half years without an accident on a construction site of this scale is no mean feat.
Congratulations to all those who have played their part and those who will safely operate the plant as it makes Sellafield safer, sooner.
The project cost £250 million and is a collaboration between Sellafield Ltd, Balfour Beatty and Cavendish Nuclear, working together to deliver design, construct, install and test of the facility.
To mark their impressive safety record, the team has donated £8000 to eight local charities, chosen by those who have worked on the project.
The nuclear site is moving into a 100 year programme of environmental remediation, which means speeding up the decommissioning of old facilities and moving the waste into safe containment for centuries to come.