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Copeland MP to make first pour
COPELAND MP Jamie Reed will be at Sellafield on Friday to help with the first concrete pour on a major decommissioning project, and receive a cheque for £1,000 on behalf of charity, thanks to the project team’s excellent safety record.
The pour is the next stage of building the Sludge Packaging Plant (SPP1). SPP1 consists of two major projects which will hydraulically receive legacy sludge from the First Generation Magnox Storage Pond at Sellafield and store it in modern tanks prior to it being processed it into a product suitable for long term storage or disposal.
Constructed in the 1950’s, the open air Magnox storage pond was used to store, cool and prepare Magnox fuel prior to reprocessing. Major additions to the plant were sought in the 1960’s in order to expand the pond storage and provide dry caves for fuel cladding removal. Through the 1970’s sludge and waste was accumulated throughout the building, other than just in the pond. This has added to what was already a major clean up challenge.
Dorothy Gradden, the head of programme delivery for SPP1, said; “SPP1’s location in the centre of Sellafield’s legacy plants created its own unique construction challenges.
“Nuclear and conventional safety have been our number one priorities through this project, and our safety record of four years without a single lost time accident reflects the efforts made by the project team and our contractors, Balfour Beatty and Doosan Babcock. ”
