A HEAVY load travelling through Berkeley will cause restrictions for drivers.

A nuclear site has taken a step closer to retrieving legacy waste from its vaults with the arrival of a module that will form part of two enormous robotic arms.

For the vault retrievals project at Magnox’s disused nuclear station, Berkeley, two large robotic arms, known as Brokks, will move intermediate level waste around the 18.3-metre long, 8.4-metre wide and 6.4-metre deep vaults.

Once deployed, each of the Brokk arm will have a reach of 11-metres, allowing them to access the furthest corners of the vaults and feed waste to the retrieval modules.

Due to their size, the Brokk modules need to be delivered to the site in sections, some travelling under police escort. The first modules arrived safely in July, with the second expected on September 23, when the road through Berkeley may be impassable in places between 9am and 12 noon.

The modules are travelling from the manufacturers testing facility near Barnsley, with police in tow. They will exit the M5 at junction 14 and travel along the B4509, A38 and B4066, to the Berkeley site.

Some parking restrictions will be in place through the village where the road becomes too narrow for the wide load to pass.

Programme delivery manager Kirsty Judd said: “The first module deliveries in July went without a hitch and We are grateful to the local community for their cooperation."