First radioactive waste placed in Dounreay vaults

The first two of up to six vaults were completed last year

Two massive vaults built for storing low-level radioactive waste from Dounreay in Caithness have been put to use for the first time.

Each vault is 36ft (11m) below ground and can hold the equivalent of between 370 and 450 double decker buses.

The stores have been designed to keep different kinds of waste and the first "packages" of materials were placed inside last month.

The Dounreay experimental nuclear power plant was built in the 1950s.

Buildings from its time when its reactors were operational are being demolished and the site cleaned up.

The vaults are the first of six that could potentially be built at the site to store low-level radioactive materials.

The land where the vaults are located will remain a restricted area for 300 years because of the radioactive material stored inside the facilities.