Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant
The Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant, or THORP, is a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant at Sellafield in Cumbria, England. THORP is owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and operated by Sellafield Ltd (which is the site licensee company).
| Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant | |
|---|---|
The THORP building viewed from the south behind an internal rail line | |
| Country | England, United Kingdom |
| Location | Cumbria, North West England |
| Coordinates | 54.4155°N 3.5017°W |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | 1974 |
| Commission date | 1994 |
| Decommission date | 2018 (ceased reprocessing, fuel storage continuing) |
| Construction cost | £1.8–billion |
| Owner(s) | Nuclear Decommissioning Authority |
| Operator(s) | Sellafield Ltd |
| Cooling source | Forced draft cooling towers |
Spent nuclear fuel from nuclear reactors was reprocessed to separate the 96% uranium and the 1% plutonium from the 3% radioactive wastes, which are treated and stored at the plant. The uranium is then made available for customers to be manufactured into new fuel, and the plutonium incorporated into mixed oxide fuel.
On 14 November 2018 it was announced that reprocessing operations had ended at THORP after earning £9bn in revenue. The receipt and storage facility (which makes up nearly half of THORP's physical footprint), will operate through to the 2070s to receive and store spent nuclear fuel from the UK's PWR and AGR fleet. The decommissioning is expected to start around 2075.