Stormy past of nuclear plant

Built on the site of a former Second World War munitions factory, it was originally named Windscale

It was chosen to produce plutonium for Britain’s weapons programme in 1947

Its Calder Hall reactors were the first in the world to use nuclear fission to generate electricity on a large scale

In October 1957, a fire in one tower spread radioactive contamination across the UK and Europe. It remains the UK’s worst nuclear incident and made Sellafield a target for environmental protest

Since the 1960s the site has been reprocessing nuclear fuel from around the globe

Electricity production ended in 2003. Work is now centred on reprocessing waste and decommissioning reactors and plants