Contaminated water leak at Sellafield could go on for decades

Assurances given that the spread is confined to the site

Contaminated water, which has been leaking from a storage silo at the Sellafield Nuclear Re-processing Plant in Cumbria for about five years, is currently being contained within the immediate area.

That's the assurance that's been given to the Manx government by the plant's management.

The Public Analyst's office attends regular quarterly briefings as part of the Sellafield liaison committee, where it's given updates on the leak from the Magnox Swarf storage silo, which it's predicted could continue for decades.

Sellafield, which is now under the control of the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Agency, admits that over 2,000 litres of the contaminated liquid leaks from the silo each day. 

It's a process that could go on until it's emptied as part of the decommissioning process - probably around the middle of the century.

The NDA admits that the complex, hugely expensive and painstaking work to clean up the Sellafield site and place waste in safe storage facilities is likely to continue well into the next century, though there are plans to pick up the pace of the process.

Dr Paul McKenna from the Manx Government's Public Analyst's office says assurances have been given that the contaminated water has not spread beyond the confines of the site, though bringing an end to the leakage could take many years.