The machine that will be starting the most important hazard and risk reduction job on the Sellafield site later this year has now moved across the specially installed rails at the top of the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo (MSSS).
The 350-tonne Silo Emptying Plant (SEP2) machine successfully moved from compartment 6 to compartment 10, where the first waste will be lifted out from.
It's a milestone moment for the programme and allows preparations to begin for active commissioning and the start of retrievals (currently forecast for later in the financial year).
It's not the first time the machine has moved across the rails inside the legacy silo - that happened in October 2020 when it moved from compartment 4 to compartment 6 in a 'trial run' of the big move which has now been successfully completed.
Moving the 30 metres to compartment 10 was barely visible in real time, but our timelapse video available here means you can now witness nuclear decommissioning history in the making.
Shifting the equivalent weight of 3 blue whales along the metal rails is done by hand using twin tirfors, which are effectively a horizontal block and tackle arrangement.
The operation was trialled many times off-site too when the machine was being built in Wolverhampton.
Now that it's in position, the next steps will be to complete the tests of all the remaining SEP 2 functionality which couldn't be done until the machine was in its retrievals position attached to the compartment ullage.
Chris Halliwell, head of legacy silos for Sellafield Ltd, said:
It's one small step for SEP2, but one giant leap for MSSS retrievals. To have this machine locked into position above the compartment which it will soon begin emptying shows just how close we are to beginning a job we have been planning and preparing for many years.
There will be many more years of operational work to get the job done - so it's important we have everything right before setting off.
We have always emphasised in the programme that this is a marathon not a sprint, but it's a huge moment to see the first of our 3 retrievals machines get into position at the starting line.
