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Capenhurst completes second major contaminated building demolition in six weeks
Capenhurst’s nuclear clean-up team has completed another major demolition project safely, just over a month after it finished the biggest demolition in UK nuclear history.
The site, which is managed and operated by Sellafield Ltd on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, housed the UK’s first uranium enrichment plant and is scheduled to become the first UK nuclear site to complete its clean-up programme in 2009.
It is a contaminated workshop attached to this enrichment plant that has been demolished clearing 3,850 m2 of space for potential reuse. Modern drainage systems will now be installed in the concrete slab and more than 80% of the contaminated waste materials will be cleaned up for recycling.
Phil Malem, head of site at Capenhurst, said: “Our nuclear clean-up work is done on the basis that as much material as possible is recycled. This reduces the impact we have on the environment, reduces the costs associated with disposing of materials and actually generates revenue from selling materials on the recycling market – this money then funds more clean-up work.”
Ian Thomas, who is responsible for building demolitions at Capenhurst, said: “This is a significant achievement because this was a contaminated building that needed substantial preparation prior to demolition - in fact about 80% of the work was in the preparation and 20% in the physical demolition.
“This is the second major demolition we've completed without any accidents in less than two months and a total of nearly 35,000m2 of space has been made available for potential reuse. Given that we are carrying out heavy duty demolition tasks, regularly working at height and handling major pieces of machinery as our day job, it makes the safety record even more significant - this has been aknowleged with our sixth consecutive RoSPA Gold Medal for safety performance."
When it was built in 1952, the enrichment plant became the driving force for uranium enrichment across the world and had the longest single-span roof in Europe at nearly 1.2km in length. Some of the building has been refurbished and remains in use as a storage facility for uranic materials, however, the space created by the area that has been demolished represents one of the biggest areas of reclaimed nuclear licensed land in the UK.
Once options for its reuse have been fully explored, they will be discussed with local stakeholders and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority as part of Sellafield Ltd’s commitment to engaging with the community on matters relating to its operations.
