Building work begins on vaults to bury Dounreay’s radioactive waste

WORK began yesterday on a £100 million project to bury the radioactive remains of the Dounreay nuclear plant.

Construction has started on a series of concrete vaults that will hold up to 240,000 tonnes of low-level waste (LLW) from the demolition of the site.

The facility is the first of its type to built in Scotland since the 1950s. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) is paying for the project to clear the redundant complex of LLW, including metal, plastics and rags that have been contaminated during the clean-out and demolition of facilities. The first phase of work, which will create 100 jobs, is expected to take two years to complete and cost £13 million.

Nigel Lowe, NDA’s director for Dounreay, said: “This facility will ensure the material is safely and securely looked after well into the future, utilising modern standards and technologies.”