Cumbria store for low-level nuclear by-products opens
A £22m bunker to store low-level radioactive waste in west Cumbria is being opened.
Vault 9, at LLW Repository Ltd's site at Drigg, will be able to hold 110,000 cubic metres of low-level nuclear waste.
The company said the facility was vital to ensure the UK's nuclear decommissioning process continued.
Among the items it will store are by-products, protective clothing and demolition rubble.
LLW Repository Ltd managing director Dick Raaz said the Drigg site was the heart of the UK's low-level nuclear waste storage operation.
He said: "We are quite conscious that if this facility doesn't perform then the whole decommissioning machine grinds to a halt.
"So we're very keen to make sure that never happens which is why Vault 9 is so important to us, because it allows us to keep the doors open, keep operations going and keep decommissioning on plan."
Vault 9 is expected to receive waste for about 10 years.