News
Wednesday 30 July 2008Magnox North has had the go-ahead to start de-fuelling at Chapelcross Site
On Friday 18th July 2008 Chapelcross Site received formal permission from the NII (Nuclear Installations Inspectorate) to commence de-fuelling operations on Reactor 1. This is the start of a 3½ year programme to remove all fuel from Chapelcross and is a major step forward in the site’s decommissioning programme.
Chapelcross ceased generation in 2004 and full preparations for defuelling the reactors including design, manufacturing, installation and commissioning of a £30M upgrade to the defuelling route have now been completed.
In parallel with the defuelling preparations early decommissioning work is being carried out, most significantly the explosive demolition of the landmark cooling towers in May 2007.
Chapelcross is one of ten Magnox sites at various stages of their operational lifecycle being managed by EnergySolutions on behalf of the owners, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).
Site Director, Dave Wilson said:” This is a major step forward in the decommissioning programme for Chapelcross Site. The main focus for the next 3½ years will be the safe defuelling of the site’s 4 Magnox reactors and the transportation of the fuel to Sellafield for reprocessing. This is also a very significant part of the national programme for the closure, de-fuelling and decommissioning of the UK’s Magnox reactor sites.”
