Sellafield B30 legacy pond (Pile Fuel Storage Pond)
Sellafield, Cumbria, UK · Decommissioning preparation (estimated 15 years), Decommissioning ongoing · £1.5bn (cost to bring to decommissioning point)
The judgement call
Account-gated at launchThe pond was not designed for easy waste retrieval, making decommissioning extremely challenging and costly. - Required 15 years and £1.5bn just to prepare for decommissioning, highlighting the immense cost of legacy nuclear waste. - The use of nuclear divers for the first time in over 60 years demonstrates innovative approaches to hazardous environments.
Key engineering challenges
Decommissioning the oldest and one of the most hazardous ponds on the Sellafield site. - Retrieving spent fuel and waste from a pond not designed for modern retrieval methods. - Managing highly contaminated water and sludge in an aging facility. - Ensuring worker safety in a highly radioactive environment, including the use of nuclear divers.
Project facts
- Client / owner
- Sellafield Ltd, Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA)
- Lead contractor
- —
- Lead designers
- —
- Project type
- decommissioning
- Scale
- 20m wide, 150m long, 6m deep; contains spent fuel and waste
- Disciplines
- nuclear; civil; structural; mechanical; robotics; waste management; remote handling; diving
- Standards & frameworks
- ONR
Sources: GOV.UK: The Pile Fuel Storage Pond - Case study (https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/the-pile-fuel-storage-pond) - The Guardian: 'Dirty 30' and its toxic siblings (https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/dec/05/dirty-30-dangerous-sellafield-nuclear-site-ponds-safety-fears) - ANS News: The Shape of Water: Nuclear Divers Return to Sellafield's Legacy Ponds (https://www.ans.org/news/article-5363/the-shape-of-water-nuclear-divers-return-to-sellafields-legacy-ponds/) - ONR: Sellafield's legacy ponds and silos (https://www.onr.org.uk/our-work/what-we-regulate/sellafield-decommissioning-fuel-and-waste/sellafield/legacy-ponds-and-silos) - The Ecologist: Leaked Sellafield photos reveal 'massive radioactive release' threat (https://theecologist.org/2014/oct/27/leaked-sellafield-photos-reveal-massive-radioactive-release-threat)