Radioactive Sludge Clear-Up At Sellafield

Work has begun to remove sludge from an old storage pond at one of the most hazardous nuclear plants in Europe, Sellafield in Cumbria.

Around 1,500 cubic metres of radioactive material is being emptied from an area which was built to store nuclear fuel for recycling in the 1950s.

"We're making history at Sellafield by transferring the first sludge using a tried-and-tested pump to a new £240m state-of-the-art sludge storage plant containing three enormous stainless steel buffer storage vessels, each of which is the same volume as seven double decker buses," said Sellafield spokesman Martin Leafe.

Engineers have spent years developing a way to suck up the waste from the six-metre deep pond.

The storage vessels were brought to Sellafield in separate sections and welded together, before being carefully slid into a reinforced concrete building to safeguard against leaks.

But there is an added complication: the pond is full of large metal boxes of nuclear fuel which they will have to work around and make sure remain fully submerged at all times.

Andy Lindley, from the Office for Nuclear Regulation, said: "This is highly hazardous waste and its removal will take some years to complete.

"But the longer term benefit is huge in terms of overall hazard and risk reduction."