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Test blast success brings Calder Hall cooling towers demolition a step closer
Sellafield Ltd, the nuclear site management and decommissioning specialist, has declared its weekend test blast of the Calder Hall cooling towers a complete success.
The test blast was carried out at Sellafield on Saturday 11 August as part of preparations to demolish the four cooling towers, which will take place at a later date. A charge was detonated on a small part of each of the tower shells, together with a leg from each tower however, while the blast was audible offsite, it was not significant enough to weaken the structure.
Jack Williamson, the Cooling Towers Project Superintendent, said: “Saturday’s test was a realtime dry run of all the safety, engineering and communications systems that will be used on demolition day. It was an essential and valuable part of our preparatory work and I’m pleased to report that it was a success.”
As the final demolition draws closer, Sellafield Ltd is recommending that onlookers remain at home to watch the event on television or the internet.
“All roads surrounding the Sellafield site will be subject to traffic control measures, so to minimise disruption, we’re urging sightseers to watch the event at home,” said Stakeholder Manager, Gill Marsden. “The demolition will be covered on the television and we have also made arrangements for it to be streamed live on the sellafieldsites.com website.”
Following the success of the test blasts the data gathered will now be analysed by the project team to prepare for the ultimate demolition of the four 88 metre high towers, changing West Cumbria’s skyline forever.
“Safety is our primary consideration for this project,” said Project Manager Andy North. “A variety of demolition methods were evaluated for removing the towers prior and controlled demolition with explosives was recommended as the safest.”
After the final demolition, debris from the towers will be recovered, processed and used to fill in the voids of the cooling ponds beneath the towers making the site available for reuse should the need arise in the future.
ENDS
For further information: Sellafield Press Office 019467 85836/38/39
