nuclear-news

About 1,000 employees at the Sellafield nuclear site in Cumbria are self-isolating amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The firm earlier said it was carrying out a controlled shutdown of the Magnox plant, ahead of any absences.

The plant in Seascale reprocesses spent fuel and Sellafield Ltd said it was scaling back operations so staff could concentrate on critical processes.

The thousand staff represents about 8% of the whole workforce.

They are either showing symptoms, have close family who have symptoms, or are having to distance themselves because they have an underlying health condition.

On closing the reprocessing site, Sellafield said: “As a proactive measure, to retain the reprocessing stream in a sustainable state for the future, we are moving to a controlled shutdown of the Magnox reprocessing plant over the next few days.

“This approach will enable the best opportunity for an effective restart when circumstances permit. With safety in mind, similar measures may be necessary elsewhere across the business.”