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Blog posted by: Emma Law, 7 September 2018 – Categories: Research and development, Skills, Waste management.

What do you know about Sellafield? Encircled by miles of fencing, and with armed guards at its gates, for many people - Sellafield is an enigma.

Sellafield itself is in north-west England, in a remote costal location with the Irish Sea on one side and the mountains of the Lake District on the other.

Sellafield the town

Covering a footprint of 2 square miles, hundreds of buildings and thousands of people, Sellafield needs some of the same infrastructures as a small town.

Did you know that Sellafield has:

• an active and non-active laundry?
• a postal service?
• canteens?
• shops?
• utilities, including water and steam?
• a road and rail network?
• an armed police force?
• a civilian guard force?
• emergency services including fire and rescue and paramedics?
• a medical team?

Sellafield is changing

Here we’ll explain what Sellafield was when the site first opened, what it is today – and what it’s becoming.

The best of the best people work here, in a range of extraordinary roles. And we have a critical mission.

70 years of national service

In 1947, the Sellafield site opened with a single mission – the production of plutonium, a radioactive chemical element for use in Britain’s nuclear deterrent. As the nation’s priorities shifted, pioneers at the site:

• designed and built the world’s first commercial-sized nuclear power station
• recycled nuclear fuel so that both plutonium and uranium, another chemical element, could be recovered and reused
• created safe treatment and storage options for all types of nuclear waste

Today the Sellafield site presents one of the most significant environmental remediation challenges in Europe.

Did you know?

• Sellafield covers 2-square miles
• it operates 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year
• it’s home to 4 of the biggest nuclear risks and hazards in Europe
• over 10,000 staff operate the site
• more than 4,000 supply chain experts help our employees
• we spend £2 billion every year – but are a non-profit organisation

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