First phase of Dounreay nuclear waste vaults completed

The first phase of a project to build up to six vaults to store tonnes of low-level radioactive waste from Dounreay has been completed.

Two vaults have been excavated on land near to the nuclear power complex in Caithness.

The larger of the two holes involved the excavation of about 200,000 cubic metres of rock by contractor Graham Construction.

The waste will include paper and clothing contaminated by radioactivity.

Once inside the store it will be monitored for 300 years.

After that period of time the radioactivity will have decayed by 95%.

Dounreay, an experimental nuclear power complex built in the 1950s, is being demolished and the site cleaned up.