On the left through the fence, about half way down the road is a new extension to the store for drums of intermediate-level radioactive waste. This has been turned from a liquid to a solid in the cementation plant beside it.  The DCP will hold 4,500 drums of Intermediate Level Waste.  This waste is stored in liquid form before it is mixed with cement to solidify it and make the waste suitable for longer-term storage.

The plant cost about £14m and includes state of the art equipment that allows radioactive liquid waste, to be mixed with dry cement.  Once mixed the ‘cement’ is allowed to set for twenty-four hours before being sealed up and transferred to a store.

National policy on the long-term management of such waste is under review.  In the meantime, the strategy remains that this material will be stored safely on site until such time as it can be removed for disposal in a national repository.

Each drum of waste is made from 6mm thick mild steel, coated in zinc, and is marked with a bar code for identification purposes.  It is anticipated that the programme for transferring all this particular type of liquid waste to storage through the Cementation Plant will take between 7 and 10 years.

There is another type of liquid waste from reprocessing that also needs to be solidified.  That is high-level liquid waste and studies are examining the best option for this material at the site.