Harwell
Harwell is located on a 91 hectare site in Oxfordshire and is the birthplace of the UK nuclear industry. Originally an RAF station, it became Britain’s Atomic Energy Research Establishment in 1946.
There were 14 experimental reactors on the site, with three remaining today, which have ceased operation and are in a period of care and maintenance.
Plans to redevelop Harwell into a Science and Innovation Park were agreed in 1992 when site decommissioning commenced.
The largest land remediation project Magnox has ever undertaken was completed in 2021 following the retrieval of 97,000 tonnes of material from a 4.2 hectare site that accommodated Harwell’s liquid effluent treatment plant (LETP).
Information is presented about wastes that existed at Harwell at the stock date (1 April 2025) and were forecast to arise after this date.
For background information about this site owner, please refer to the Site Information Sheets in the 2025 UK Radioactive Waste Inventory report.
The following page presents information about radioactive wastes at the specific site selected.
Information about spent fuel and nuclear materials is presented separately in the relevant 2025 Inventory report. For official figures and essential information about how the data has been produced, always refer to the UKRWI 2025 published reports.
Waste groupings
stored
waste
arising
waste
packaged
waste
Waste categories
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From Amersham and AWE Aldermaston to Winfrith and Wylfa – you can source site-by-site waste inventory data from sites across the UK nuclear industry here.