Discover the most dangerous place in the UK

Sellafield - the UK's main nuclear waste treatment and recycling plant located in Cumbria, 6km square, each year costs 1.9 billion pounds, handling almost all radioactive waste of 15 particle reactors. on the UK.

On a beautiful afternoon, Wired's reporter went to this "most dangerous European" factory.

"The place is the second most dangerous place here," chief technician Andrew Cooney pointed to a building that looked very harmless.

Sellafield is also a scary reminder of the past of British kernels. This place is the largest unprocessed radioactive waste repository in the world, including 140 tons of plutonium for civilian purposes.

"Just knowing this is a 60-year-old building, the rest of the information is gone," said mechanical engineer Rich Davey, referring to a vast maze of nuclear laboratories.

Inside the cramped, crumbling factory, radioactive reservoirs next to the power plant and research station were built in the 1950s.

Wired reporters have a rare opportunity to see how Sellafield operates.

1. Recycling

Thermal Oxide Recycling Plant (THORP) processes British used fuel and foreign nuclear plants. Materials are delivered by train. A 150 ton crane raises used fuel tanks.

These wastes are dumped into giant heat sinks, and lie there for about 3 to 5 years.

Next, the robot will divide that spot into small parts, dissolving in nitric acid into a very dangerous radioactive mud, then moving to another plant processing area.

2. Remote control

This is the control room of BROKK 90 - a machine used to demolish an old nuclear research laboratory.

Built in the 1950s, this laboratory is not safe enough to enter, so remote BROKK control engineers, in a nearby house.

3. Classification

When the demolition work was completed, RAPTOR robots were used to classify and store waste.

RAPTOR is a machine arm that works like a human hand, dumping waste into hundreds of 500 liter plastic containers. These boxes will be compressed, called "puck", stored in the factory.

4. Windscale reactor

The reactor was decommissioned in May 2011 safely, significantly reducing the risks that might occur with this "golf ball" shaped building.

5. Train station

Sellafield also has its own train station, fire service and police team - its Civil Nuclear Police -. Before September 11, 2011, the factory's sightseeing area was a big attraction, with an average of 1,000 visits per day.

6. Archive

Old radioactive materials (pipes, lead bricks, metal, etc.) are placed in truck-sized reinforced concrete boxes. Each box contains about 100 SI radiation (5 or 6 SI is deadly).

This warehouse absolutely forbids people from entering. All households are sealed with steel and concrete before being taken out of this place.