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50 years erased in seconds - Calder Hall's cooling towers are demolished
Sellafield Ltd. today reached an important milestone in the clean-up of the UK’s nuclear legacy with the successful demolition of four cooling towers at Calder Hall nuclear power station, West Cumbria.
The cooling towers, each of which reached 88m tall, stood as a symbol of Britain’s pioneering nuclear energy heritage since Her Majesty the Queen opened Calder Hall in 1956 as the world’s first commercial-scale nuclear power station.
However, in only a few minutes, the towers were demolished, marking a major step in the decommissioning of Calder Hall and changing the West Cumbrian skyline forever. Following thorough safety inspections of the exclusion zone and surrounding plants, the demolition was declared a success.
Jack Williamson, Project Superintendent, said: “I’m extremely proud of the team for delivering this highly significant project so professionally. Although explosive demolition is the standard method for bringing down such structures, Sellafield provided a number of uniquely complex challenges that all had to be overcome in order to deliver this project safely.
“Thanks are also due to our demolition contractors, Controlled Demolition Inc, whose expertise played a significant role in bringing this project to such a successful conclusion.”
ENDS
For enquiries please call Sellafield Ltd’s press office
Ben Todd 01925 834431 07738 039640
Tracy Riley 01946 785836
Notes for editors
Calder Hall – background information
· To combat the surging energy needs of the United Kingdom and to support the defence program, construction began on the world’s first commercial sized nuclear power station, Calder Hall.
· The first Calder Hall Reactor was opened by HM Queen on 17 October 1956 just under three years after construction began.
· Three more reactors followed and operated successfully and safely for 47 years until generation ceased in March 2003.
· The four cooling towers provided cooling water to the closed energy system. Cooling water was circulated from the cooling towers to the adjacent turbine hall condensers and back again.
· The purpose of the towers was to cool the water prior to its return to the turbine hall.
· All four of the Calder Hall cooling towers are currently being decommissioned in preparation for their free-release demolition
· Calder Hall’s four Magnox reactors powered 200,000 homes for 47 years.
