Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Thorp nuclear reprocessing plant, which closed in April 2005 after a serious radioactive leak, will not restart until next summer following the discovery of another technical fault.
It is the latest blow for the plant's owner, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), which is already facing a financial crisis. The NDA funds the £2bn annual budget for cleaning up Britain's nuclear reactors and is losing an estimated £40m in income every year because of Thorp's continued closure.
Thorp, part of the Sellafield site in Cumbria, reprocesses spent nuclear fuel to extract plutonium. BNFL, the company that runs Sellafield for the NDA, told The Independent on Sunday in October 2005 that Thorp would reopen in March this year. The timetable then slipped to summer 2006 and then the autumn. In September, BNFL said Thorp's restart would take place in "early 2007".
But BNFL has admitted in a staff newsletter that new technical problems, involving a filter pump in an adjoining facility, mean Thorp will not restart before April. In reality, experts say that the plant is unlikely to be operational until next summer at the earliest.
The NDA estimates it will face a £200m shortfall in 2007-08, and it is believed this figure assumes that Thorp will reopen in the spring. If the plant remains closed for longer, the NDA's budget gap will widen even further.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments