The United Kingdom’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority on Tuesday said 109 low-level radioactive waste “skips” have been removed from storage ponds at the closed Oldbury nuclear power plant in South Gloucester and prepared for storage.
Used fuel elements were placed in the skips after being taken out of Oldbury’s two reactors. The completed skip-extraction process is a “significant step” in the process of decommissioning Oldbury’s cooling ponds, according to a joint press release from the NDA and Oldbury manager Magnox Ltd.
Next steps in the process involve removal of pond furniture and all remaining skips, which are used to hold other parts. That is expected to be completed this year, after which pond water would be drained and surfaces stabilized in 2018.
Oldbury operated from 1967 to 2012, and was the last operational Magnox reactor at the time of its closure. The plant is now being prepared to by 2027 be placed in “care and maintenance” status under which it would be overseen in a “passive state” for several decades to allow radiation levels to drop.
The preparatory effort has included removing all fuel from the plant as of last year.
Magnox as of 2013 expected to spend about £866 million on care and maintenance preparations from 2013 to 2027. The care and maintenance period is projected to last from 2027 to 2096, followed by final site clearance from 2092 to 2101. Total post-closure costs were estimated at over £1.7 billion.
