The Encapsulated Product Store 3 (EPS3) has been designed to store intermediate level waste (ILW) in purpose built above ground storage buildings on the Sellafield site.
Sellafield project manager Ewan Smith said: "At the peak well over 200 people were working on the project and it is to their credit that we have delivered the project safely and to a high standard of quality.
The facility can store over 29,000 waste drums.
Sellafield spent fuel management director Steve Bostock said: "EPS3 will receive ILW arising from the sites continuing reprocessing and high hazard removal operations, as part of decommissioning a number of priority facilities.
"The team is now excited about operating this new facility to enable continued safe and secure storage of ILW on the Sellafield site".
Sellafield Nuclear Decommissioning Authority program director Pete Lutwyche said: "The completion of EPS 3 marks a major milestone in the decommissioning of Sellafield.
"This facility is a key piece in the jigsaw of projects we need to clean-up the most hazardous areas of the site – the NDA’s number one priority task.
"Once opened, the building will provide world-class, modern storage of waste for many years to come, pending its ultimate transfer to the safest and most secure method of dealing with this material – disposal in a deep geological facility."
