A thick collection of cranes, observable from a long distance, indicates the location of the United Kingdom's first nuclear plant to be constructed in the recent past, situated at Hinkley Point in Somerset.
Upon completion, it is estimated that this construction will create enough electric power to provide service to about 6 million households for 60 years.
Though only a short distance away, two reminders endure that past nuclear power plants continue to have an influence, even after ceasing to generate electricity.
Hinkley Point B, an immense, angled edifice overlooking the Bristol Channel, opened in 1976 with two cutting-edge AGRs (advanced gas-cooled reactors).
Throughout almost 50 years of operation, cracks formed in their graphite cores leading to concerns about safety, thus the facilities were closed down definitively in the last year.
The spacious primary chamber looks as if nothing has been altered, with gleaming new equipment illuminated by bright lights and personnel in blue jumpsuits shuffling about in the area close to the reactors.
The primary job at present is the defueling process: extracting hundreds of fuel assemblies from inside the reactor cores, taking them apart, and transferring the waste material to Sellafield for storage.
As we observe, a colossal steel tower is being placed over the reactor. This is the charging apparatus. It resembles an antiquated helter-skelter, but is really a heavily-armored crane.
The fuel assemblies, having been inside the reactor for an extended period of time, are exceptionally radioactive and must be treated with great caution.
Shaheed Mungur, Performance Improvement Manager at EDF, explains that the machine is able to lift the highly irradiated fuel assembly, which, upon exposure, is lethal.
That's why we have all the shielding, and why we need to use this machine to safely handle the fuel.
Once the fuel has been taken out of the reactor, the casings of the fuel assemblies must be dismantled in a steel-lined cell.
The operators working in a small, confined space toil remotely to complete the tasks.
They have to look through a 2m thick window filled with a fluid that absorbs brownish radiation to carry out their tasks.
The fuel elements are then placed in deep, transparent ponds to cool, before being put into sturdy, 45-tonne containers for their trip to Sellafield, where they will be stored in the interim.
Operating the two reactors at Hinkley Point B demanded 308 fuel assemblies. It is projected that the process of removing them will span up to four years and cost an estimated £1bn.
Director Mike Davies makes it clear: the end of the generation is in no way the finale of the station's life.
For many years, we have been relied on to run this facility safely. How have we managed to do this? By dealing with the nuclear fuel for this entire period, which is exactly what we are continuing to do.
We are removing the nuclear fuel and not replenishing it.
Once the defueling process has been finished, EDF will transfer the site to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).
It is useful to go to Hinkley Point A, the other power station nearby, to see what transpires afterwards.
This site was one of the initial nuclear installations in the UK. Its two reactors started operating in 1965 and they were decommissioned in 2000.
It has been almost a quarter of a century since that time, and the two bulky-looking reactor structures remain visible against the skyline. Unfortunately, the huge turbine hall and other buildings no longer exist, and in their place stands an immense empty pit, overgrown by weeds.
The fuel storage ponds that had been in use previously have been emptied, tidied up, and painted in order to minimize the risks associated with radiation. Although, we have been informed not to remain close to them for long periods of time. Other than those, there is still a chamber full of half-filled contaminated materials, which is being cautiously extracted.
A thick-walled concrete vault, designed to house intermediate-level radioactive wastes, has been constructed on the premises.
A completely distinct type of industrial danger, however, currently presents one of the biggest obstacles.
In one of the antiquated boiler houses, teams of workers adorned with respirators are taking time to diligently scrub through miles of complex piping, manually - so as to eradicate any sign of asbestos.
When the facility was constructed, great amounts of the material were employed for insulation - and already, thousands of tonnes have been taken away.
As per present arrangements, the majority of the dismantling will be concluded by 2039. However, the former reactor buildings will remain in existence, encased against the elements, for an additional 20-40 years.
Kirandeep Basra-Steele, the site director, assures that the site will be secure and free of danger. They will take the necessary safety measures to secure all hazardous materials.
This is referred to as the "care and maintenance" stage. Due to the fact that radioactivity diminishes over time, the NDA has decided that postponing the disassembly of the reactor buildings will result in a higher level of safety. is available today than ever before.
Today, there is a greater availability of business technology than ever before.
It is anticipated that the entire decommissioning process will last approximately a decade; therefore, the site will not be completely cleared until the 2070s or later - a full 70 years following the termination of power production.
Going forward, the hazardous waste products produced by Hinkley A and B over the years must be safely managed, which may be necessary for multiple generations.
Although nuclear plants have been running in the UK commercially since 1956, a lasting place for high and intermediate-level wastes (some of which will be hazardous for thousands of years) still does not exist.
The government is planning to construct a geological disposal facility (GDF), located deep beneath the ground - yet this won't be available for a number of decades.
Those against the nuclear industry argue that due to the troubles that come with decommissioning existing plants, as well as the lack of a definite disposal plan for the waste, constructing new ones is a misguided act.
Doug Parr, Chief Scientist at Greenpeace UK, stressed that the most important takeaway from the present challenges associated with dealing with nuclear waste is to prevent further production.
Despite this, the construction of the Hinkley Point C power station is still in progress and is expected to start producing electricity in four years.
One day, this [venue/location] will need to be shuttered, and a decommissioning scheme with funding, a legal requirement, is already established.
It is anticipated that the complete removal of the plant's remains will not be achieved until the 22nd century if everything goes according to plan, taking an estimated 20 years.
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