History has been made as the final fuel leaves an iconic nuclear plant.

Defuelling operations are complete at Sellafield’s Calder Hall. It means the world’s first full-scale nuclear power station is empty of fuel for the first time since the 1950s.

The achievement marks an important milestone in the decommissioning of Sellafield.

The opening of Calder Hall by the Queen in 1956 sparked national celebration. Hailed as the dawn of the atomic age, it made Britain a world leader in the civil nuclear industry.

When the station was switched on, nearby Workington became the first town in the world to receive heat, light, and power from atomic energy.

Calder Hall’s Magnox design was the template for Britain’s first generation of nuclear power stations and the technology was exported around the world.

The station provided carbon-free electricity for 47 years. It stopped generating power in 2003 and defuelling began in 2011.

One man who is well aware of the importance of Calder Hall is David Moore, who grew up and still lives next to the landmark site.

"I feel like I have lived with it all my life," said Mr Moore, who is now retired.

"There have been some significant milestones."

The parish and borough councillor clearly remembers the queen opening the site. As a four-year-old he, along with many others, headed to Sellafield Station clutching a Union Jack flag to welcome the royal.

He later went on to become the borough council's portfolio holder for nuclear and chair of the stakeholder group.

He has been chair for the past 15 years, keeping "a watchful eye on operations", he said.

He also clearly remembers the cooling towers being demolished in 2007.

"That was another milestone, I had always grown up with those four towers," he said.

"Now this is the final milestone. What we need now is to press for the site to be cleaned up and got back into good nuclear use quickly."

The defuelling operations mean the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s Magnox Operating Programme is a step closer to completion.

Stuart Latham, head of remediation for Sellafield Ltd, said: “This is a truly iconic moment.

“Calder Hall was the birthplace of the civil nuclear industry. It inspired the world and put our site at the forefront of the atomic age.

“Completing the defuelling programme is an important moment for Sellafield.

“The defuelling team have completed the task safely and professionally and have a made a huge contribution to our mission.”

Removing fuel from Calder Hall’s four reactors was a complex task.

A total of 38,953 spent fuel rods had to be carefully retrieved from the station’s four reactors.

The same machines that were used to load fuel into the reactors during its operational life were used to pull it out.

Once removed, the fuel was transferred in shielded flasks to Sellafield’s Fuel Handling Plant. After being cooled in a storage pond, its casings are removed and the rod taken to Sellafield’s Magnox Reprocessing Plant to be reprocessed.

This extracts the reusable uranium and plutonium from the fuel.

Calder Hall’s reactor buildings will now be placed into a state known as ‘care and maintenance’. In due course they will be fully decommissioned and demolished.

A portion of the site has already been earmarked for a new nuclear building. Land clearance for the project is scheduled to begin soon.

The station’s four imposing cooling towers were demolished in 2007.