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Bellona nuclear digest. May 2024
A survey of events in the field of nuclear and radiation safety relating to Russia and Ukraine.
News
Publish date: August 13, 2007
News
Controlled blasts on the four towers are a prelude to their demolition later this year. Experts detonated a charge on a small part of each of the 88m high towers’ shells.
The demolition of the towers is part of the British Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s (NDA) plan to dismantle ageing facilities throughout the UK.
Jack Williamson, the cooling towers project superintendent, told the BBC that: "The test was a real-time dry run of all the safety, engineering and communications systems that will be used on demolition day.
"It was an essential and valuable part of our preparatory work and I’m pleased to report that it was a success."
Project manager Andy North added: "Safety is our primary consideration for this project.
"A variety of demolition methods were evaluated for removing the towers and controlled demolition with explosives was recommended as the safest."
After the final demolition, debris from the towers will be recovered, processed and used to fill in the voids of the cooling ponds beneath the towers, making the site available for reuse in the future.
The towers were originally part of the Calder hall facility, which was the world’s first nuclear reactor and opened by Queen Elizabeth in 1956. Calder Hall ceased operating in 2003 after almost 50 years in service.
A survey of events in the field of nuclear and radiation safety relating to Russia and Ukraine.
But it’s unlikely to impact emissions from shipping along the Northern Sea Route.
In this news digest, we monitor events that impact the environment in the Russian Arctic. Our focus lies in identifying the factors that contribute to pollution and climate change.
The following op-ed, written by Bellona’s Charles Digges, originally appeared in The Moscow Times. In recent months, the Russian nuclear in...