One of Sellafield’s key decommissioning projects, the demolition of the 61 metre ventilation stack on top of the First Generation Reprocessing Plant, has successfully achieved major risk reduction.
The stack’s location, close to nuclear facilities still in operation, meant that deployment of innovative techniques was required, such as a platform that can be raised or lowered, being built around the stack. This tailored design, combined with appropriate safety measures to control the risks, ensured that the stack was demolished in a controlled manner. With the height of the stack now reduced to below 34 metres following planned demolition work, the risk of stack collapse onto adjacent operational plants is removed. The stack will ultimately be reduced to a height of 9 metres.
Fiona Hunter, Nominated Site Inspector, said, “We adopted a constructive approach with Sellafield Ltd and Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to enable effective delivery against this clear and prioritised safety outcome. This is a visible demonstration of Sellafield Ltd’s commitment to risk reduction and through constructive working our interventions have also enabled accelerated demolition work.”