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Hurricane Buildings Demolished
Nearly 60 years after they first operated, Sellafield’s Hurricane Run buildings have been successfully and safely demolished.
The buildings were originally constructed to process plutonium solutions into solid metal as part of the Hurricane Run for the first atomic test in 1952 at the Monte Bello Islands off the North West coast of Australia.
They continued to operate, producing other nuclear materials including tritium and polonium and the recovery of Highly Enriched Uranium until they were converted into drum stores in the 1990s. The decision was then made to prepare them for demolition in 2009, nearly 60 years after they first came into operation.
The first job was to establish safe access to the buildings. The conventional hazards were then characterised which included asbestos containing materials being identified with white, brown and blue asbestos all present.
Historical reports also recorded widespread contamination and this was evidenced by significant contamination hot spots present throughout the buildings. A comprehensive characterisation campaign was undertaken including surveys, sampling and gamma spectroscopy in order to fully understand the radiological conditions.
Next, the redundant equipment was removed including process tanks, switch rooms and ventilation fans which still remained in situ within the buildings.
Waste disposal involved sentencing the brick and block work as very low level waste, while the structural steelwork was suitable for processing through the Sellafield wheelabrator for decontamination and recycling with over 215 tonnes of metal recycled in total.
The actual demolition was progressed using demolition excavators fitted with grabs and shears. Every effort was made to recycle and reuse equipment during the clearing process and over 15 tonnes of materials such as scaffolding was removed from the site for reuse.
