Hunterston A is celebrating a unique achievement after a decade of retrieving and safely storing solid radioactive waste which weighs as much as 153 Big Ben bells.
Over 2,100 tonnes of solid radioactive waste have been safely stored at the Hunterston A nuclear decommissioning site, completing a major nuclear restoration services milestone.
The 'A' site holds the largest inventory of solid intermediate level waste across all the sites being decommissioned.
This waste consists of contaminated metallic components, debris removed from spent fuel elements and 30,000 fuel element graphite sleeves from when the site was generating low carbon electricity between 1964 and 1999.
Mark Blackley, Hunterston A site director, said: “This is a fantastic achievement which has safely and compliantly reduced one of the most significant hazards on site. Over 85 per cent of the intermediate level waste (ILW) inventory has now been retrieved. This is a tremendous testament to everyone who has been involved in or who has supported this project.”
“The remaining 15 per cent of ILW inventory are residual sludges from the spent fuel storage ponds and acids. These are in the process of being recovered and treated.
Gareth Taylor, group performance improvement director, Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, said: “This is a significant milestone in our mission to safely and securely decommission our legacy nuclear sites. It is fantastic to see the culmination of many years of hard work and planning.
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