Work is underway to remove nuclear waste from Berkeley Power Station, 30 years after it ceased operation.

The disused Magnox generator, the world's first commercial power station, closed in 1989.

According to the BBC it will cost an estimated £1.2bn to fully decommission Berkeley.

About 200 people are currently working on the site under strict security.

Work has begun emptying waste products from concrete vaults, eight metres underground.

An interim storage facility was built in 2014 and the waste will be housed their until a location for its long-term storage is decided on.

New Stroud MP Siobhan Baillie welcomed the news. "Great potential for the Berkeley site as work begins on waste disposal.

"It will be good to see work to manufacture new batteries, creating jobs and prosperity for us locally, Gloucestershire and the UK," she said.

Speaking to the BBC Rob Ledger, waste operations director at Berkeley, said: "When the power stations first started generating I don't think there was much thought put into how the waste was going to be dealt with or retrieved.

"It's taken a while to develop the equipment and the facilities."

A new police academy is being built nearby.

READ MORE: New Berkeley police academy to be ready 'early next year'