Government funding of £154m ($208m) has been allocated over five years to develop specialised capabilities to enable the disposal of the UK’s civil plutonium inventory. In January, the UK government decided that the civil plutonium stockpile, accumulated from reprocessing used nuclear fuel over many decades, would go to permanent disposal. Earlier, following a public consultation in 2011, a preliminary policy view was adopted favouring reuse of plutonium as mixed oxide (MOX) fuel but remaining open to alternative proposals for plutonium management. Subsequent studies recommended immobilisation as the preferred solution.
The investment will allow the NDA, working with supply-chain partners, to design, install and operate specialist laboratory facilities at Sellafield, where experts will test and prove the technology that will be used to immobilise the plutonium, locking it away in a stable form. Work will focus on early research and development for the programme over the next two years, with 50 people already in post.
In addition, £2.5m is being invested in establishing a £5m Plutonium Ceramics Academic Hub in partnership with the Universities of Manchester and Sheffield, which is central to developing the technical expertise and experts needed for the work.
The NDA group is already leading the way in nuclear decommissioning and safely managing the UK’s most hazardous radioactive materials,” said NDA Group CEO David Peattie. “This government investment will allow us to drive forward this important national policy, building cutting edge facilities and growing world-leading expertise and capability in plutonium immobilisation, providing a safe, secure and permanent solution. It’s a strong vote of confidence in our ability to safely, securely, and sustainably deal with the UK’s civil nuclear legacy to benefit future generations.”
Energy Minister Michael Shanks said: “Cumbria has a proud nuclear history, and this new investment will unlock pioneering technology to manage our nuclear waste. Alongside the 100 jobs from this research, thousands more will be supported over the course of the plutonium immobilisation programme and see billions invested in the region, boosting the local economy. Currently, the UK’s civil separated plutonium inventory is safely and securely stored at Sellafield, in line with regulatory requirements.”
Two technologies for immobilisation are being explored, Disposal MOX (DMOX) which creates ceramic pellets suitable for disposal, and Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) where high pressures and temperatures are used to create a ‘rock like’ ceramic material. Progress is already underway, with two new state-of-the-art laboratories being installed at Sellafield to develop and prove the technologies.
Once immobilised the material is intended for final disposal in a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) and NDA group subsidiary, Nuclear Waste Services, is leading work to ensure the final waste form is suitable for a GDF.
Plutonium is highly radioactive, and its hazardous nature means stringent arrangements need to be in place for researchers to work safely and securely with the material to develop these technologies. The next phase will involve seeking approval for a major plutonium disposition programme.
This will require the construction of a nuclear material processing plant and interim storage capability at Sellafield, pending the construction of a GDF. NDA said this would bring major investment to the area and supporting thousands of skilled jobs for decades to come.
