The first consignment of “exotic” plutonium nuclear material has been transported from Dounreay in Caithness more than 400 miles away to England.
A batch of fuel manufactured for the Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) at Dounreay arrived safely amid high security at Sellafield in Cumbria yesterday.
The cargo, which was never used, is the latest fuel to be removed from Dounreay as part of a programme that started in 2001 following the decision to close the site.
Last night, Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd (DSRL) would not disclose how the fuel was transported to Sellafield for “security reasons”.
However, last year the organisation carried out a trial of sea transport to establish the feasibility, in addition to transport by road and rail.
The programme to remove the exotic fuels is expected to take until early 2020 to complete.
The safe arrival of the first fuel from the PFR follows the successful completion earlier this year of the first phase of transports by rail of breeder material from the Dounreay Fast Reactor to Sellafield.
The DFR closed in 1977 and the PFR in 1994.
Alex Anderson, DSRL’s director of operations for the transport, said:
“Each fuel move requires a great deal of preparation and co-ordination across the industry, regulators, government and police.
“I’m very grateful to everyone who played their part in delivering this first consignment safely and securely, without harm.”
The exotic fuels are a sub-set of the site’s nuclear materials and comprise a total of about 26 tonnes of unirradiated plutonium bearing fuels, unirradiated high enriched uranium and irradiated fuels.
The first batch delivered to Sellafield was from one of the unirradiated stocks.
It is claimed the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s decision to transfer plutonium and uranium to Sellafield instead of keeping it at Dounreay will save even more money in the long term.