URENCO UK Ltd

The Urenco UK Ltd Capenhurst site is located approximately 10km to the north of Chester. The licence holder is Urenco UK Ltd. Following completion of the site integration project and the issue of a new site licence in November 2012, the former Sellafield limited Capenhurst site was integrated into the enlarged Urenco UK Ltd site. The site contains a number of facilities which comprise;

• Three enrichment plants, which enable nuclear power stations around the world to generate electricity;
• Cylinder storage rafts and Container Receipt and Dispatch (CRD) building; and
• Other support facilities such as workshops, uranium residues store, chemical laboratories, fire station and the site emergency control centre.

A tenant organisation, Urenco ChemPlants Limited, operates a Tails Management Facility (TMF). The facility processes depleted uranium hexafluoride (UF6 ‘Hex Tails’) and converts it to the lower hazard U3O8 material for long term storage or potential re-introduction in the enrichment process if required in future. ‘Hex Tails’ arising from Capenhurst and Urenco facilities in Holland and Germany are also processed at Capenhurst and the facility maintains the availability of UF6 transport cylinders across the Urenco facilities.