Last updated 21:59, Wednesday, 27 August 2008

THE final defuelling of one of the reactors at Chapelcross began last week.

Chapelcross site director Dave Wilson at Reactor 1 pile cap with the B shift fuel route team which removed the first fuel element

The first fuel element was removed from the core of Reactor 1, beginning the active commissioning of the newly-upgraded fuel route.

About 40,000 fuel elements will be systematically removed from all four reactors and dispatched for reprocessing at the Sellafield site in west Cumbria.

Magnox North was given formal permission from the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) last month, giving the go-ahead for work to start on removing all the spent fuel which accounts for more than 99 per cent of the radioactive material held on the site.

Chapelcross is one of 10 Magnox sites at various stages of their operational lifecycle being managed by EnergySolutions for the owner, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).

Site director Dave Wilson said: ”The first element was successfully removed from the core on Monday afternoon, with the operation going safely and according to plan.

“This is the culmination of years of hard work by the workforce and significant investment in the plant to ensure defuelling can be carried out safely and efficiently.

“Defuelling Chapelcross’s reactors will be the main focus of the site for the next 3½ years and is the next major step in decommissioning the site.”