The world’s oldest operating nuclear power station, Oldbury near Bristol, stopped producing electricity yesterday morning after 44 years of operation.
Since it opened in 1967, Oldbury’s twin reactors have generated 137.5TWh of electricity — enough to power 1M homes for over 20 years.
The closure marks the start of preparations getting underway to start the decommissioning process, which will, over decades, include removal of the spent fuel, management of the waste and eventual demolition of the buildings.
Reactor One’s shutdown yesterday followed the closure last June of Reactor Two. Originally scheduled to stop generating in 2008, the site’s owner, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), took the decision to extend Oldbury’s operating life following reviews with the regulators. The site is operated by Magnox, which is owned by EnergySolutions.
Oldbury is one of 11 nuclear power stations in the UK that were based on the Magnox design, developed during the post-war years and the first in the world to generate electricity on a commercial scale. Ten are now closed and in various stages of decommissioning, with only Wylfa on Anglesey still operating.
The decision to shut down Reactor One was taken in November 2011 in conjunction with the regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation, after a review concluded that continued operation would no longer be economically viable.
You might also like...
Power cuts loom as inertia delays nuclear decisions
Leading UK scientists this week slammed government inertia regarding the development of new nuclear power stations.
Shelved Wylfa nuclear project to hit 350 suppliers
The supply chain working on the Wylfa nuclear power station project in North Wales is being “run down” after project developer Hitachi and the government admitted they had failed to agree funding terms.
Wylfa engineer makes case for £20bn ‘boring’ nuclear project
As work on the Wylfa Newydd nuclear power station hangs in the balance, the engineer leading the project’s technical operations has told New Civil Engineer he is confident the team can deliver on time and on budget thanks to a risk-free design.
Exclusive | £2.8bn Morecambe Bay tunnel scrapped
The £2.8bn North West Coast Connections project, which includes the 22km long Morecambe Bay tunnel near Lancaster, has been officially scrapped, New Civil Engineer can reveal.
Contract for Scotland’s oldest nuclear reactor awarded
The contract to dismantle Scotland’s oldest nuclear reactor has been awarded.
Have your say
You must sign in to make a comment
Please remember that the submission of any material is governed by our Terms and Conditions and by submitting material you confirm your agreement to these Terms and Conditions. Please note comments made online may also be published in the print edition of New Civil Engineer. Links may be included in your comments but HTML is not permitted.
Readers' comments (1)
Brian Corbett2 March, 2012 3:37 pm
Oldbury and Wylfa were the only Magnox stations with prestressed pressure vessels. There will be few at Sir Robert McAlpine's today that recall the difficult setting-out of the helical ducts by Don Weatherseed and his team.
The foundations of the reactors were designed by Soil Mechanics Ltd and were not without their problems - see Alan Meigh's Rankine Lecture.
I trust that the Engineers designing the reactors for the proposed new power station will spare the time to study what was done between 1960 and 1967. And perhaps a thought for those of us involved at the time. That research will save them time and also considerable expense!
Brian Corbett, FICE
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment