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A 1960s vacuum cleaner has been rediscovered in a decades-old radioactive silo at Sellafield, revealing the dangers and advances of one of the UK's most complex nuclear operations.
An old vacuum cleaner was found inside one of the oldest structures dangerous and inaccessible from the Sellafield nuclear power plant in England. The equipment, from the 1960s, had been stored in a sealed nuclear vault since the 1970s. The discovery surprised local operators, who are now working to empty the facility after decades of accumulating radioactive material.
Radioactive vacuum cleaner: Surprise in a structure sealed for decades
The object was located in the so-called Pile Fuel Cladding Silo, located in Cumbria. The vault is considered one of the oldest and most complicated nuclear facilities in the world.
Since the 1970s, the silo remained closed, accumulating hazardous waste in a poorly documented manner.
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The vacuum cleaner was rediscovered during a recovery process initiated by the plant's teams. The aim is to safely remove the contents accumulated in the structure's six compartments.
So far, 18 boxes of radioactive waste have been removed, according to information from the UK government.
History buried with dust
The vacuum cleaner found is an Electrolux brand. According to those responsible, it was used to remove radioactive dust in the industrial environment of the plant in the 1950s and 1960s.
At that time, there was no specific system for disposing of contaminated materials, so items like this ended up being sealed in the silo with other waste.
Roddy Miller, operations director at Sellafield Ltd., said the vacuum cleaner case shows the challenge involved in today’s task. “It is a fantastic achievement to get to the point where we are routinely recovering silo waste”, he said. According to him, at the time, accurate records were not kept.
Modern technology to deal with the past
Today, removing silo contents requires modern equipment, remote control systems and extreme caution. Operators have to deal with highly dangerous objects and substances left there by previous generations.
The operation continues, and any items found to be contaminated will be properly treated as nuclear waste.
The modern vacuum cleaner that is being used today to capture dust during the process will also suffer the same fate. Once its function is finished, it will be stored permanently as radioactive material.
Advances in cleaning the plant
The ongoing operation marks a major step forward in the mission to decommission the Sellafield plant. In addition to the silo where the vacuum cleaner was found, other spaces are also being emptied.
Two open tanks and another silo that stored nuclear fuel are also part of the operation.
All of these structures were built at a time when there was no thought of the need for future restoration. This makes each part of the work even more complicated and time-consuming.
According to Miller, the moment represents a historic milestone. “For the first time in our history, we are routinely recovering waste from all four of our old lakes and silos.”, He stated.
Still, the director stressed that the process is far from over. “But there is still much work to be done and these four installations will remain a challenge for many years to come.”, he concluded. The focus now is to safely accelerate the recovery and reduce the risks to old structures.
With information from Interesting Engineering.
