The challenges of decommissioning nuclear power plants and rehabilitating  contaminated sites has come under the spotlight at a UN meeting in Madrid, Spain this week.

Some 600 nuclear plants have been built around the world during the last 60 years.

Around 160 have been shut down, however only 17 have been fully decommissioned.

Patrick O’Sullivan is a Decommissioning Specialist at the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

He’s been speaking to Steve Thatchet.

Duration: 3’40”