nuclear-news

Leak is Sellafield’s ‘biggest environmental issue’

BBC 21st March 2025,

The head of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) called the silo “Britain’s most hazardous building” He said it was the “single biggest environmental issue” facing the nuclear plant

A longstanding leak at “Britain’s most hazardous building” is a nuclear plant’s “single biggest environmental issue”, a select committee has heard.

The leak in the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo (MSSS) – built more than 50 years ago at Sellafield in Cumbria – started in 2019 after first occurring in the 1970s.

Labour MP Luke Charters told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday that every three years the silo leaked enough material to fill an “Olympic-sized swimming pool”.

Sellafield head Euan Hutton said the leak did not “pose a detriment to the public”.

The silo contains Magnox fuel cladding, mostly made up of magnesium, which was removed from nuclear fuel rods.

It was built in the 1960s, with three further extensions built in the 1970s and 1980s.

The leak is being caused by a crack in the underground portion of the silo, Mr Hutton told the committee.

He said the team had “excellent ground modelling and monitoring” which showed the activity was staying in the ground beneath the facility.

The head of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) called the silo “Britain’s most hazardous building” and said the best way to the stop the leak was “to empty the silo as efficiently and quickly as we can”.

He said it was the “single biggest environmental issue” facing the nuclear plant

Mr Hutton said the team hoped to empty the silo by about 2059……………………………… https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgy77y21djo

March 24, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, UK