The metal will be treated by size-reduction and decontaminated by shot-blasting. The scrap will then be monitored to confirm that it is no longer subject to regulatory control and will be recycled.

“This is a very significant achievement for Studsvik. Securing the necessary regulatory consent to bring active material onto the Studsvik MRF nuclear licensed site represents a major milestone for us. We are delighted to be working with LLW Repository on this first project that enables us to bring our new facility into active operation, and to offer a new service to the UK nuclear industry,” said Sam Usher, President.

“We have worked closely with our Regulators to ensure that everything is in place to start-up our metals recycling service in the UK. This will help the NDA and all nuclear site operators in the UK to implement the waste hierarchy and protect the capacity of the LLW Repository. We are pleased with how the regulatory and development process has progressed and we are looking forward to starting operations now,” explained Mr Usher.

This first project involved the transport of scrap metal drums from the LLW Repository to the Studsvik MRF via the Port of Workington by rail, and a number of other customers will begin to utilise the facility as a route for their metallic waste in the next few weeks.

The Studsvik Metal Recycling Facility is the first new nuclear licensed site to be brought into operation in the UK in over 20 years. Low level radioactive waste metal will be processed at the facility by size reduction and shot-blasting.

Dick Raaz, Managing Director of LLW Repository Ltd said, “This consignment represents a first for both Studsvik and LLWR. We are entering an exciting period at LLWR, with our new Metallic Waste Treatment Service, representing the start of a series of initiatives that we will be introducing in the coming months to increase the treatment of waste and reduce the volume of low level waste to be disposed of at the Low Level Waste Repository. Studsvik’s new facility at Lillyhall will enable LLW Repository Ltd to offer its customers new options for treating waste and fully implement the waste management hierarchy in line with the National Low Level Waste Strategy.”

The facility is regulated by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, Environment Agency, Office for Civil Nuclear Security and Cumbria County Council and was subject to a full Environmental Impact Assessment in 2007. Studsvik received its consent to accept radioactive waste onto site for treatment on the 1st September 2009. The MRF development, which involved the refurbishment and upgrading of a former engineering facility, will create up to 30 new jobs in West Cumbria.

“We are really pleased to be open for business. This is positive news for Workington and West Cumbria in terms of the contribution Studsvik has made to the local community. We are developing a viewing gallery and education room in the facility where interested parties and school children can come to see what we are doing,” explained Mike McMullen, MRF Facility Manager.

The Studsvik MRF has been designed and developed by Studsvik to assist the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and other generators of radioactive metal waste that meet the requirements of the Government Policy for solid low level waste. This requires operators to utilise the waste hierarchy, which is a policy of minimisation, re-use and recycling. By decontaminating metallic waste, the quantity of waste needing disposal at the LLW Repository is greatly reduced, whilst at the same time the MRF recovers valuable metal for recycling. These principles are key themes of the NDA’s National LLW Strategy.