People in North West England are benefitting from £154 million in
government funding to develop specialised capabilities to enable
the disposal of the UK's civil plutonium inventory.
100 jobs will be supported, the majority in Cumbria, after the
government decided to immobilise the material, a product of
nuclear fuel reprocessing, which will mitigate the long-term
security risks.
This major investment, spanning five years, will allow the
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority group, working with
supply-chain partners, to design, install and operate specialist
laboratory facilities at Sellafield, where experts will test and
prove the technology that will be used to immobilise the
plutonium, locking it away in a stable form.
Work will focus on early research and development for the
programme over the next two years, with 50 people already in
post.
In addition, £2.5 million is being invested in establishing a £5
million Plutonium Ceramics Academic Hub in partnership with the
Universities of Manchester and Sheffield, which is central to
developing the technical expertise and subject matter experts
needed for the unique work.
NDA Group CEO, David Peattie, said:
The NDA group is already leading the way in nuclear
decommissioning and safely managing the UK's most hazardous
radioactive materials.
This government investment will allow us to drive forward this
important national policy, building cutting edge facilities and
growing world-leading expertise and capability in plutonium
immobilisation, providing a safe, secure and permanent solution.
It's a strong vote of confidence in our ability to safely,
securely, and sustainably deal with the UK's civil nuclear legacy
to benefit future generations.
Minister for Energy said:
Cumbria has a proud nuclear history, and this new investment will
unlock pioneering technology to manage our nuclear waste.
Alongside the 100 jobs from this research, thousands more will be
supported over the course of the plutonium immobilisation
programme and see billions invested in the region, boosting the
local economy.
Currently, the UK's civil separated plutonium inventory is safely
and securely stored at Sellafield, in line with regulatory
requirements.
There are two technologies for immobilisation being explored,
Disposal MOX (DMOX) which creates ceramic pellets designed for
disposal, and Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) where high pressures
and temperatures are used to create a ‘rock like' ceramic
material.
Progress is already underway, with two new state-of-the-art
laboratories being installed at Sellafield to develop and prove
the technologies.
Once immobilised the material is intended for final disposal in a
Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) and NDA group subsidiary,
Nuclear Waste Services, is leading work to ensure the final waste
form is suitable for a GDF.
Plutonium work is uniquely challenging due to the material's
hazardous nature which means stringent arrangements need to be in
place for researchers to work safely and securely with the
material and develop these technologies.
Alongside this research and development investment, the next
phase involves seeking approval for a major plutonium disposition
programme.
This will require the construction of a nuclear material
processing plant and interim storage capability at Sellafield,
bringing major investment to the area and supporting thousands of
skilled jobs for decades to come.
