UK funds £154m for plutonium immobilisation in Cumbria

The NDA group has been allocated £154 million in government funding to develop specialised capabilities to enable disposal of the UK’s civil plutonium inventory.

• Main action: The government has provided £154 million over a five-year programme to the NDA group to design, install and operate specialist laboratory facilities at Sellafield to develop and prove plutonium immobilisation technologies (two new state-of-the-art labs). The programme will support 100 jobs (majority in Cumbria), with early R&D focused over the next two years and 50 people already in post.
• Background and next steps: £2.5 million is being invested to establish a £5 million Plutonium Ceramics Academic Hub with the Universities of Manchester and Sheffield to build technical expertise. Two immobilisation technologies are being developed (Disposal MOX/DMOX and Hot Isostatic Pressing/HIP); Nuclear Waste Services is leading work to ensure the final waste form is suitable for a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF). The next phase will seek approval for a major plutonium disposition programme requiring construction of a nuclear material processing plant and interim storage at Sellafield.