The world\u2019s most recognizable nuclear chimney is ready to be demolished.<\/p>\n
Preparations to pull down Sellafield\u2019s Windscale Pile One stack are now complete.<\/p>\n
The 110m structure \u2013 the scene of Britain\u2019s worst nuclear accident \u2013 will begin to disappear later this year.<\/p>\n
A giant crane has been constructed to bring it down.<\/p>\n
The 152m crane is the tallest structure ever built at Sellafield, just six meters shorter than the Blackpool Tower.<\/p>\n
It will begin work this autumn, removing and lowering chunks of the chimney cut out using diamond wire saws.<\/p>\n
Duncan Thompson, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority\u2019s Sellafield Programme Director, said: \u201cThe complex task of decommissioning and demolishing the Windscale Pile One Stack has reached an important stage. It is another example of the ingenuity that goes into solving the UK\u2019s decommissioning problems.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce demolition begins it will be a very visible demonstration of the work being done to make Sellafield a safer place.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Windscale Pile One chimney, with its distinctive top-heavy appearance, has dominated the Sellafield skyline for nearly 70 years.<\/p>\n
Famously, its filtration system was a last-minute addition, placed unusually at its summit.<\/p>\n
Despite being mockingly referred to as \u2018Cockroft\u2019s Folly\u2019, after its designer Sir John Cockroft, it turned out to be a masterstroke.<\/p>\n
In 1957, a fire broke out in the Windscale Pile One reactor. The sky-high filters captured an estimated 95 percent of the radioactive dust created.<\/p>\n
Now, the chimney is a decommissioning project.<\/p>\n