The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the House of Commons released a report on the 4th, criticizing the slow progress of the decommissioning process of the Sellafield nuclear power plant, warning that the nuclear power plant may continue to leak radioactive water into the 1950s.
The UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) described the nuclear waste storage facility MSSS as "the most dangerous building in the UK." Since 2018, the facility has been leaking radioactive water into the ground, releasing enough water every three years to fill an Olympic swimming pool.
The report predicts that such leakage will continue until the 1950s, when the oldest parts of the building will be emptied, about 10 years later than originally expected. The PAC pointed out that Sellafield has failed to meet most of its annual targets for recovering nuclear waste from buildings such as MSSS, and warned that this poor performance will cause the building to remain in an extremely dangerous state for a longer period of time.
Brown urged the government to grasp the urgency of decommissioning Sellafield. "The risks and challenges are visible. Our report highlights that there are some early signs of improvement at Sellafield, but the government must do more to better protect public funds and the public."
Sellafield stopped generating electricity in 2003 and, in addition to cleaning up the site, now processes and stores nuclear waste from power plants across the UK.
The UK government has a long-term plan to build an underground geological disposal facility (GDF) that can store nuclear waste for thousands of years until it is safe for the environment. However, the PAC said the project has been delayed and is not expected to be completed until the late 2050s, meaning Sellafield will need more storage facilities and therefore cost more.
