Springfields

For the British folk/pop group featuring Dusty Springfield, see The Springfields.

Springfields

Location of Springfields
Built	1940 (as munitions factory); 1946 (as nuclear fuels facility)
Location	Salwick, Lancashire, England
Coordinates
Industry	Nuclear fuel
Products	oxide fuels; uranium hexafluoride
Employees	1,700 (in 2002)
Address	Springfields Fuels Limited, Westinghouse, Springfields, Salwick, Preston PR4 0XJ

Springfields is a nuclear fuel production installation in Salwick, near Preston in Lancashire, England (grid reference SD468315). The site is operated by Springfields Fuels Limited, under the management of Westinghouse Electric UK Limited, although since its conversion from a munitions factory in 1946 it has been operated and managed by a number of different organisations including the UK Atomic Energy Authority and British Nuclear Fuels. Fuel products are produced for the UK’s nuclear power stations and for international customers.

Activities on the site

The site has been making nuclear fuels since the mid-1940s. The site is notable for being the first nuclear plant in the world to produce fuel for a commercial power station (Calder Hall).

The four main activities carried out on the site are:

• Production of oxide fuels for advanced gas-cooled and light water reactors, as well as intermediate fuel products (uranium dioxide powders, granules, and pellets)
• Production of uranium hexafluoride, or "hex"
• Processing of fuel-cycle residues
• Decommissioning and demolition of redundant plants and buildings

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.