Springfields: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 09:47, 1 August 2021

Latest revision as of 16:43, 15 April 2025

(11 intermediate revisions by 10 users not shown)

Line 1:

{{Short description|Nuclear site in Lancashire, England}}

{{for|the British folk/pop group featuring [[Dusty Springfield]]|The Springfields}}

{{for-multi|the British folk/pop group featuring Dusty Springfield|The Springfields|the fictional power plant in ''The Simpsons''|Springfield Nuclear Power Plant|the shopping centre|Springfields Outlet Shopping & Leisure|the theme park|Springfields Fun Park}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox factory

| name = Springfields

Line 10 ⟶ 12:

| industry = [[Nuclear fuel]]

| products = [[Nuclear fuel#Oxide fuel|oxide fuels]]; [[uranium hexafluoride]]

| employees = 1,700 (in 2002)800<ref name=Themanufacturer>{{cite web|title=The ManufacturerLegal|url=httphttps://damiswestinghousenuclear.venus.co.ukcom/ukuknuclear/profileabout/459legal/BNFL_UK_Fuel_Business|workaccessdate=10 December 2024}}</ref>

BNFL UK Fuel Business, Heart of the furnace|accessdate=16 December 2011}}</ref>

| architect =

| style =

Line 19 ⟶ 20:

| defunct =

}}

'''Springfields''' is a [[nuclear fuel|nuclear fuel production installation]] in [[Salwick]], near [[Preston, Lancashire|Preston]] in [[Lancashire]], [[England]] ({{gbmapping|SD468315}}). The site is currently operated by Springfields Fuels Limited, under the management of [[Westinghouse Electric Company|Westinghouse Electric UK Limited]], on a 150-year lease from the [[Nuclear Decommissioning Authority]].<ref name=independent-20170330>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/westinghouse-bankruptcy-is-the-future-of-uk-nuclear-power-in-uk-doubt-toshiba-a7658001.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/westinghouse-bankruptcy-is-the-future-of-uk-nuclear-power-in-uk-doubt-toshiba-a7658001.html |archive-date=24 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Westinghouse bankruptcy: Is the future of nuclear power in the UK in doubt? |first=Ben |last=Chapman |newspaper=The Independent |date=30 March 2017 |accessdate=31 March 2017}}</ref> Since its conversion from a [[munitions]] factory in 1946, it has previously been operated and managed by a number of different organisations including the [[United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority]] and [[British Nuclear Fuels]].<ref name=westinghouse>{{cite web|title=Westinghouse|url=http://www.nuclearsites.co.uk/page.php?pageID=85|work=Westinghouse website on nuclear sites|accessdate=16 December 2011}}</ref> Fuel products are produced for the [[Nuclear power in the United Kingdom#Power stations|UK's nuclear power stations]] and for international customers.<ref name=nei-20200507>{{cite news |url=https://www.neimagazine.com/features/featurespringfields-what-next-7911185/ |title=Springfields: what next? |publisher=Nuclear Engineering International |date=7 May 2020 |access-date=22 May 2020}}</ref>

==Activities on the site==

Line 31 ⟶ 32:

At its peak the site employed 4000 people, but reduced demand and increased automation saw this fall to about 800 by 2020.<ref name=nei-20200507/>

In December 2022 Westinghouse received a £13&nbsp;million grant from the UK government to explore the development of Uranium Conversion Services at the site.<ref>{{cite web |title=Westinghouse Receives UK Government Grant to Explore Uranium Conversion Services |url=https://info.westinghousenuclear.com/news/westinghouse-beis-award}}</ref>

==Protests==

Protests have been held at the site against the production of nuclear waste. In the 1980s there were also protests against apartheid, due to the use of uranium imported from Namibia.

==Future of the plant==

Manufacture is scheduled to continue until 2023. Decommissioning activities have so far resulted in 87 buildings on the site having been fully demolished.<ref name=nda>{{cite web|title=Nuclear Decommissioning Agency|url=http://www.nda.gov.uk/sites/springfields|work=Decommissioning at Springfields site|accessdate=16 December 2011}}</ref> A Clean Energy Technology Park (CETP) has been set up to encourage new companies to operate on the site.<ref name=nei-20200507/>

==References==