Magnox

Wylfa nuclear power station

Posted Mon, 27/09/2010 - 9:48pm by admin

The Wylfa Nuclear Power Station is situated just west of Cemaes Bay on the island of Anglesey, North Wales.

Wylfa houses two 490 MW Magnox nuclear reactors, "Wylfa-1" and "Wylfa-2", which were built from 1963 and became operational in 1971. They have a combined capacity of 980 MW.

On 20 July 2006 the NDA announced that the station will be shut down in 2010 because operation beyond then would be uneconomic given plans to shut down the Magnox spent fuel reprocessing plant at Sellafield. However in 2010 the NDA announced an extension to 2012, beyond Wylfa's 40th anniversary as a generating power station in January 2011.

A second plant (generally referred to as Wylfa B) has been proposed. Horizon Nuclear Power, an E.ON and RWE joint venture, announced in 2009 intentions to install about 3,000 MWe of new nuclear plant at Wylfa. Horizon is considering building either Areva EPR or Westinghouse AP1000 reactors at a site to the south of the existing Wylfa station.

On 18 October 2010 the British government announced that Wylfa was one of the eight sites it considered suitable for future nuclear power stations.

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Trawsfynydd nuclear power station

Posted Mon, 27/09/2010 - 9:44pm by admin

Trawsfyndd nuclear power station is a disused Magnox power station situated at Trawsfynydd in Gwynedd, Wales.

Construction of the power station began in July 1959, and both of the two reactors were in operation by March 1965, with the station opening fully in October 1968. It had two Magnox reactors producing 470 megawatts (MW) in total.

Both have been shut down since 1991; the site is in the process of being decommissioned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

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Oldbury nuclear power station

Posted Mon, 27/09/2010 - 9:42pm by admin

Oldbury nuclear power station is a nuclear power station located on the south bank of the River Severn close to the village of Oldbury-on-Severn in South Gloucestershire, England. It is operated by Magnox North Limited, on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).

Opened in 1967, it had two Magnox reactors producing 424 megawatts (MWe) in total.

The design net power output of the station was 600 MWe, but due to steel corrosion problems from the hot carbon dioxide coolant within the reactor, operating temperature had to be reduced soon after operation started causing a large drop in power output.

The power station was due to cease operation in 2008, with decommissioning due to begin in 2009. An announcement on 18 December 2008 by the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority stated that the station will continue to operate for another two years.

The Nuclear Directorate has allowed one reactor at the station to operate until June 2011. The operators applyied for the same extension for the other reactor. On 29 February 2012, the last of the Oldbury Magnox reactors was finally shut down.

On 9 February 2011 the Nuclear directorate allowed Rector 2 to continue operating until 30 June 2011.

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Hunterston nuclear power station

Posted Mon, 27/09/2010 - 9:36pm by admin

Hunterston A nuclear power station was a Magnox power station located at Hunterston in Ayrshire, Scotland, adjacent to Hunterston B and is currently being decommissioned.

Hunterston A closed in 1990, with Reactor 2 shutting down on 31 December 1989 and Reactor 1 on 31 March 1990.

Hunterston B consists of two AGR reactors of 1215MW in total. In 2007 the reactors were restricted to operating at a reduced level of around 70% of full output (around 850 MWe net). Subsequent work during maintenance shutdowns have resulted in Reactor 3 operating at around 75% (460Mwe net) in early 2011, and Reactor 4 at around 71% (430 MWe net). In total this equates to around 980MWe gross.

The graphite moderator core in each of the twin advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGR) at Hunterston B has recently developed structural problems in the form of cracking of the bricks.

Hunterston B is currently scheduled to be decommissioned in 2016.

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Calder Hall and Sellafield nuclear power station and factory

Posted Mon, 27/09/2010 - 9:25pm by admin

Sellafield (formerly known as Windscale) is a nuclear processing and former electricity generating site, close to the village of Seascale on the coast of the Irish Sea in Cumbria, England.

Facilities at the site include the THORP nuclear fuel reprocessing plant and the Magnox nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. It is also the site of the remains of Calder Hall, the world's first commercial nuclear power station, now being decommissioned, as well as some other older nuclear facilities.

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Sizewell Nuclear Power Station

Posted Sat, 25/09/2010 - 3:00pm by admin

Sizewell is a nuclear power station in Suffolk, near Leiston. It is operated by British Energy, which is owned by EDF (80%) and Centrica (20%).

At present, there are two reactors at Sizewell.

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