Sellafield wants to build new storage facility for radioactive waste

Sellafield plans to build the second of four new units to store intermediate-level radioactive waste. The measure is part of the company’s efforts to decommission old buildings at its Seascale plant. The project was approved in 2023, and an application has been submitted to the Environment Agency (EA) seeking permission to abstract water from the selected site, the preliminary step for building the foundations of the new facility. Documents attached to the application said there were no contamination risks from radioactive waste. They also presented the dimensions of the planned building, which would be the size of a football pitch and as tall as six double-decker buses. If permission is granted, Sellafield aims to start building works this year.
Sellafield, in Cumbria, is one of the main sites managing radioactive waste worldwide. The amount of waste managed is so high that the plant is also planning the construction of an underground facility to store the oldest waste. The site could still be in Cumbria.