Nuclear decommissioning: the problem that won't go away

As governments across the world build more nuclear power stations, disposing of the old and dirty reactors is becoming big business, writes Conal Walsh

IT IS A sprawling landscape of chimneys, storage ponds filled with nuclear waste and radioactive buildings awaiting demolition. The UK's Thorpe nuclear-processing plant at Sellafield – nestled somewhat incongruously among the picturesque hills of Cumbria, northern England – is unlikely ever to become a tourist attraction, despite its fame. For decades, Sellafield has been officially the most hazardous building in western Europe (according to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority). And disposing safely of its crumbling, highly radioactive edifices, its hastily dumped reactor parts and decaying fuel rods is a slow and painstaking job that will probably ensure Sellafield holds the same dubious