Calder Hall set for decommissioning

The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate has approved the decommissioning of Calder Hall, Britain’s first operating nuclear power station, and work is now set to begin in earnest at the site in Cumbria. Part of the Sellafield complex, the Calder Hall Magnox reactor was first connected to the National Grid in 1956, and was closed down in 2003.

Decommissioning on the site has in fact already begun, with plants that had been declared redundant before the plant’s closure dismantled and demolished. The latest decommissioning plan is more wide-ranging, involving the removal of all the site buildings and their contents. The first phase of the project, removing all structures apart from the main reactor buildings themselves, will take several years, and will begin with the removal of the internal packing of the cooling towers.

Both the NII and the Environment Agency are to remain closely involved with the project, says station manager Steve Howard. ‘People will soon see the effect [of the approval], as we demonstrate how quickly and safely we can deliver our agreed programme of work,’ he comments.