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.