Sellafield Vitrification should ensure safe storage of waste in the UK for the middle to long term. Construction of the Sellafield MOX Plant (SMP) was completed in 1997, though justification for the operation of the plant was not achieved until October 2001. Mixed oxide, or MOX fuel, is a blend of plutonium and natural uranium or depleted uranium which behaves similarly (though not identically) to the enriched uranium feed for which most nuclear reactors were designed. MOX fuel is an alternative to low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel used in the light water reactors which predominate in nuclear power generation. MOX also
Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station cost between £5 billion and £6 billion to construct, would employ up to 3,000 construction workers for the possible eight-year construction period, as well as providing 600 full-time jobs once completed. The new station has an anticipated operating life of 60 years. The plans are opposed by environmental groups such as Friends of the Earth and Stop New Nuclear. The power station lies from the local resort of Seaton Carew. Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station Hartlepool power station is a nuclear power station situated on the northern bank of the mouth of the River Tees, south of Hartlepool in County Durham,