The Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant, at Sellafield in Cumbria, was completed in 1994 (having been under construction since the 1970s) and ceased operation in 2018, having been beset by both economic and technical problems. Its purpose was to separate spent nuclear fuel from nuclear reactors into uranium (96%), plutonium (1%) and radioactive wastes (3%). The uranium was made available for customers to be manufactured into new fuel, and the plutonium was re–used in mixed oxide fuel. The waste material, after treatment, was stored at the plant, and will continue to be stored until the 2070s when radiation will have declined to a safe level. Demolition is expected to be complete by the end of the 21st century.
© Haydn Thompson 2021