The removal and transfer of this ILW into newly designed concrete boxes before moving it into an interim on-site storage facility is a step in the decommissioning of the Magnox site.
This is part of Magnox’s strategy for dealing with legacy waste in a consistent and cost-effective manner across its different sites.
The first concrete box of radioactive waste has now been filled and safely stored at the Gloucestershire site, pending long-term disposal in a future geological disposal facility.
It is expected to take between four and five years to remove the full inventory of waste from the vaults at Berkeley.
Additionally, ONR has permissioned the use of concrete storage boxes as a suitable container for the transport of waste from the vaults into the interim storage facility.
Paul Jenneson, ONR’s Berkeley site inspector, said: “It has taken many years of planning and work to reach the point of being able to retrieve waste from the vaults and store it in concrete boxes in a modern safe interim storage facility, and I would like to congratulate all those involved in achieving this significant milestone.
“Getting to this stage has been a result of a sustained programme of productive and open dialogue and engagement between the regulator and the licensee, Magnox Ltd.
“Given its success, we expect that Magnox will be able to utilise learning from the novel approach taken at Berkeley to help accelerate decommissioning work at some of its other sites.”