A historic chimney is set for demolition at Sellafield. The Primary Separation Plant Chimney Stack was built in the 1950s to provide ventilation for surrounding buildings. It is now one of the biggest risks at Sellafield because it does not meet modern safety standards. Demolishing a 61-metre chimney in the middle of Europe’s most complex, congested nuclear site is a challenge. Explosives are not an option and there is no space for a crane so engineers have spent the last seven months getting a self-climbing platform to the top of the chimney metre by metre so they can begin demolition. Demolishing this chimney will cost more than £60m. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority which oversees Sellafield says the complexity of this one project demonstrates why cleaning up this site is so expensive. £2bn was spent at Sellafield last year alone.
ITV News 29th Aug 2017 read more »
