History
“The Sizewell nuclear site consists of two nuclear power stations, one of which is still operational, located near the small fishing village of Sizewell in Suffolk, England. Sizewell A, with two magnox reactors, is now in the process of being decommissioned. Sizewell B has a single pressurised water reactor and is the UK’s newest nuclear power station. A third power station, to consist of twin EPR reactors, is planned to be built as Sizewell C.
The (A) power station was shut down on 31 December 2006. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) is responsible for placing contracts for the decommissioning of Sizewell A, at a budgeted cost of £1.2 billion. Defuelling was completed in 2014.[8] Removal of most buildings is expected to take until 2034, followed by a care and maintenance phase from 2034 to 2092. Demolition of reactor buildings and final site clearance is planned for 2088 to 2098.
On 7 January 2007, a contractor working on the decommissioning of the station noticed water leaking on to the floor of the laundry where he was washing his clothes. The water was found to be cooling water from the pond that holds the reactor’s spent nuclear fuel which had dropped more than 1 foot (0.30 m) without activating any of the alarms. It is estimated that up to 40,000 imperial gallons (180,000 l; 48,000 US gal) of radioactive water had leaked from a 15-foot (4.6 m) split in a pipe, with some spilling into the North Sea. According to the HM Nuclear Installation Inspectorate’s report of the incident, without the chance intervention of the contractor, the pond could have drained before the next scheduled plant inspection. If the exposed irradiated fuel had caught fire, it would have resulted in an airborne off-site release of radiation.”
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sizewell_nuclear_power_stations
