Nuclear power plant reaches decommissioning milestone

A nuclear power station in Essex is set to reach a milestone in its decommissioning.

The Bradwell reactor will become the first to enter the 'care and maintenance' stage in the UK by the end of November.

Eventually the site will be restored to a green field.

Click below for Serena Sandhu's report

Bradwell started generating electricity in 1962 and stopped in 2002. It will take 80 years until the final site clearance can begin.

The total cost of decommissioning Bradwell A is estimated to be £2 billion

Bill Hamilton, from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, said: "It's powered nearby towns like Chelmsford and Colchester and businesses and homes for decades.

"If you work it out at today's prices the cost of that electricity would far outweigh the cost of the decommissioning by more than double. So this site over the years has definitely paid its way."

For more than 40 years it generated enough electricity to supply the whole of the UK for six months.

Bob Nichols, Closure Site Director, explained why decommissioning takes so long.

"It's very long, very complex because there's many things we have to take into consideration," he said.

"We basically define our path through a safety case that's reviewed by the Office of Nuclear Regulatory and that gives us a guide path to get to the decommissioning elements."

Since decommissioning begun giant cooling ponds have been drained of water and the area has been encased in weather-proof cladding.

The turbine hall has been demolished and is now a vast area left to fill with rainwater.

A temporary site to store contaminated material has been built. Nothing has been set up nationally to deposit the insides of the reactor core - they remain enclosed underneath these cladded structures to decay naturally

More than 4,000 tonnes of asbestos has been removed and more than 24,000 tonnes of waste has been processed - 19,000 tonnes of it recycled

Ian Falcus started working at Bradwell in 1982 as an electrical craft apprentice. He's now one of many workers who've taken redundancy

He said: "I was here for 20 years when it was producing electricity, putting it out to the National Grid.

"Then it shut down in 2002 and I was part of the team that held it there until we decided on the work that needed to be done to put it into care and maintenance."

Bradwell's nuclear future is by no means over - a neighbouring site is likely to become the first Chinese designed and operated nuclear facility in Western Europe

That's years away yet but means the debate over nuclear power is likely to rumble on for generations to come.