Unused nuclear fuel once intended for the Prototype Fast Reactor at Scotland’s shuttered Dounreay nuclear facility reached the Sellafield site on Monday for storage, according to a press release. This was the first such shipment of fuel from the reactor.
Started in 2001, the site’s full defueling program is not expected to be completed for several more years, the release says. Earlier this year, crews transported breeder material from the Dounreay Fast Reactor to Sellafield, a reprocessing and decommissioning site in Cumbria, England.
The Dounreay Fast Reactor shut down in 1977, followed by the Prototype Fast Reactor in 1994. Decommissioning of Dounreay is presently scheduled for 2030.
“Each fuel move requires a great deal of preparation and co-ordination across the industry, regulators, government and police,” Alex Anderson, Dounreay Site Restoration operations chief for the transport, said in a press release. "I’m very grateful to everyone who played their part in delivering this first consignment safely and securely, without harm.”
Jobs