• Home
• Introduction
• Site Setting
• Geology and Hydrogeology
• Investigations to date
• Current Understanding
  of the Site
• Strategy and Planning
• Regulatory Requirements
• Management Activities
  • Safety case
  • Best Practicable Means (BPM) Assessment
  • Groundwater Monitoring
  • Leak Detection
  • Site Procedures to Excavate and to Dispose of Soil
  • Phase 2 of the Sellafield Contaminated Land Management Programme
  • Data Information Management
  • External Stakeholders
• Supporting Information

The Sellafield site is located on either side of the River Calder where it flows into the Irish Sea. The Calder was originally a meandering river through the middle of the site, but was straightened in the 1970s to provide more space for development. The surrounding land use is mainly undulating pasture with occasional scattered farm dwellings.

A golf course borders the site to the south. The nearest settlements are Beckermet village 2 km to the north west, Calder Bridge village 1 km to the north east, Gosforth village 3 km to the east and Seascale village 1 km to the south. The railway line between Barrow and Carlisle runs along the south western coastal boundary and the River Ehen lies just beyond, flowing in from the north and then running parallel to the coast before joining the River Calder to form a joint discharge point to the sea. A smaller watercourse, Newmill Beck, also joins the Calder near its mouth on the opposite bank having flowed around the south east side of the site. Other small streams and becks cross into the site from the north and east sides that either flow naturally or are culverted into the River Calder.

1940s Royal Ordnance Factory

Sellafield early 1950s

Sellafield mid 1970s

Current Sellafield site