Sellafield
United Kingdom /
England /
Seascale /
World
/ United Kingdom
/ England
/ Seascale
World / United Kingdom / England
power station, nuclear power plant, nuclear research centre
Sellafield is a nuclear reprocessing site, close to the village of Seascale on the coast of the Irish Sea in Cumbria, England. The site is served by Sellafield railway station. Sellafield is an off-shoot from the original nuclear reactor site at Windscale which is currently undergoing decommissioning and dismantling. The name of the site was changed from Windscale to Sellafield in 1981 when BNFL (British Nuclear Fuels Ltd.)a private sector company took over ownership of the plant from the UK Atomic Energy Authority. Calder Hall, another neighbour of Windscale is also undergoing decommissioning and dismantling of its 4 Magnox nuclear power generating reactors.
The Sellafield site is located to the west of the Lake District on the Irish Sea coastline, 11 kilometres south of the town of Whitehaven. The site covers an area of approximately 3 square kilometres and is one of the largest nuclear engineering centres in the world. The site was originally developed in the early 1940s as a Royal Ordnance factory producing explosives for the war effort away from the main threat of air attack. After the war, the site was chosen to be the location for the United Kingdom's first nuclear reactors and associated chemical plants producing plutonium due to its comparative remoteness, coastal position, existing infrastructure and access to plentiful water supplies.
Since its inception as a nuclear facility Sellafield has also been host to a number of reprocessing operations, which separate the uranium, plutonium, and fission products from spent nuclear fuel. The uranium can then be used in the manufacture of new nuclear fuel, or in applications where its density is an asset. The plutonium can be used in the manufacture of mixed oxide fuel (MOX) for thermal reactors, or as fuel for fast breeder reactors, such as the Prototype Fast Reactor at Dounreay. These processes, including the associated cooling ponds, require considerable amounts of water and the licence to extract water from Wast Water, formerly held by BNFL, is now held by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
In February 2009, NuGeneration (NuGen), a consortium of GDF Suez, Iberdrola and Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE), announced plans to build a new nuclear power station of up to 3.6GW capacity at Sellafield. In October 2009, NuGen purchased an option to acquire land around Sellafield from the NDA for £70m. On 18 October 2010 the UK government announced that Sellafield was one of the eight sites it considered suitable for future nuclear power stations. On 23 June 2011, the government confirmed plans to build a new nuclear reactor at Sellafield, to be completed before 2025.
FOR = www.sellafieldsites.com/
AGAINST = www.shutsellafield.com/
The Sellafield site is located to the west of the Lake District on the Irish Sea coastline, 11 kilometres south of the town of Whitehaven. The site covers an area of approximately 3 square kilometres and is one of the largest nuclear engineering centres in the world. The site was originally developed in the early 1940s as a Royal Ordnance factory producing explosives for the war effort away from the main threat of air attack. After the war, the site was chosen to be the location for the United Kingdom's first nuclear reactors and associated chemical plants producing plutonium due to its comparative remoteness, coastal position, existing infrastructure and access to plentiful water supplies.
Since its inception as a nuclear facility Sellafield has also been host to a number of reprocessing operations, which separate the uranium, plutonium, and fission products from spent nuclear fuel. The uranium can then be used in the manufacture of new nuclear fuel, or in applications where its density is an asset. The plutonium can be used in the manufacture of mixed oxide fuel (MOX) for thermal reactors, or as fuel for fast breeder reactors, such as the Prototype Fast Reactor at Dounreay. These processes, including the associated cooling ponds, require considerable amounts of water and the licence to extract water from Wast Water, formerly held by BNFL, is now held by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
In February 2009, NuGeneration (NuGen), a consortium of GDF Suez, Iberdrola and Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE), announced plans to build a new nuclear power station of up to 3.6GW capacity at Sellafield. In October 2009, NuGen purchased an option to acquire land around Sellafield from the NDA for £70m. On 18 October 2010 the UK government announced that Sellafield was one of the eight sites it considered suitable for future nuclear power stations. On 23 June 2011, the government confirmed plans to build a new nuclear reactor at Sellafield, to be completed before 2025.
FOR = www.sellafieldsites.com/
AGAINST = www.shutsellafield.com/
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sellafield
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 54°25'15"N 3°30'0"W
- Burbo Wind Farm 102 km
- Kielder Resevoir 107 km
- Green Rigg Wind Farm 118 km
- Clyde Wind Farm 123 km
- Ray Wind Farm 124 km
- Hagshaw Hill Wind Farm 130 km
- Whitelee Wind Farm 154 km
- Teesside Wind Farm 156 km
- Cemmaes Wind Farm 196 km
- Carno Wind Farm 206 km
- Dent Fell 9 km
- Whin Rigg 13 km
- Wastwater Screes 13 km
- Wast Water 14 km
- Ennerdale Water 14 km
- Former open cast mine 14 km
- Great Borne 16 km
- Mellbreak 19 km
- Crummock Water 20 km
- Lake District National Park 26 km
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