Nuclear plant's buildings to be demolished

Eight buildings once used to generate power at a nuclear plant are due to be demolished.

Sellafield has been given permission by Cumberland Council to knock down the Calder Hall Blower Houses at its Seascale site.

They consist of two sets of four identical buildings built in the 1950s, that were used in the power generation process at Calder Hall until 2003.

Planning documents stated they were now a "waste of money", as well as a potential hazard.

The buildings contain redundant equipment, which was previously used to circulate coolant gas through the reactors that generated the power.

"Maintaining the blower houses is both unnecessary and a waste of money, it also puts people at risk from undertaking avoidable maintenance works," stated the papers.

However, Sellafield said it was considering future development options at the site.

"Given the possibility for possible future redevelopment at the site, the proposal is to remove the building superstructure and retain the existing concrete foundations until a future development design is confirmed," it said.

The company said it expected to need up to six 20-tonne HGVs each day of the demolition to remove material, which is likely to take between 32 and 40 days of work.

Although the "bulk" of the asbestos at the site has already been removed, Sellafield expects a further 25 tonnes of the hazardous material will be removed during the demolition.

It added any "loose radiological contamination" would be removed before the work starts