A. J. Wickham Nuclear Technology Consultancy, UK; Visiting Senior Research Fellow, The University of Manchester
GLEEP (fully dismantled, graphite calcined) BEPO (Air cooled; closed 1968; de- fuelled; graphite characterised, awaiting dismantling) DRAGON (OECD HTR; fuel blocks in storage) Windscale Piles (Air cooled; de-fuelled except for distributed fuel in Pile 1; graphite characterised except for heart of FAZ; decision on dismantling delayed)
Windscale AGR (CO 2 cooled; de-fuelled and graphite removed in demonstration exercise) Calder Hall / Chapelcross (8 early Magnox reactors: closed, achieved >50 years operation, de-fuelling slowly) Berkeley, Bradwell, Hinkley Point A, Dungeness A, Sizewell A, Hunterston A, Trawsfynydd (2 reactors each site; earliest closures de-fuelled, others in progress [limited by capacity at Sellafield])
Oldbury Calder Hall Trawsfynydd
Part of Energy Solutions Inc. Oldbury, Wylfa (2 Magnox reactors each site; CO 2 cooled;). 435 MW(e) and 980 MW(e) respectively. Oldbury R2 has permission to operate until June 2011 or until Mean Core Irradiation reaches 33.7 GWd/te, whichever occurs first. Oldbury R1 has safety case until end June 2011 but could extend to Dec 2012 with new (graphite) safety case. Care and Maintenance from 2022. Wylfa reactors can nominally continue until Dec 2014: most likely, only one reactor will continue until this date, utilising fuel transferred from the other to maximise usage of remaining fuel stock. Care and Maintenance from 2025. All subject to continued monitoring and to the Magnox Operating Plan which governs the fuel reprocessing requirements.
14 Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactors (2 reactors each at Dungeness B, Hinkley Point B, Hunterston B, Hartlepool, Heysham 1, Heysham 2 and Torness: all operational).
Heysham 2 (2 reactors) Heysham 1 (2 reactors)
Station Total Electrical Output (MW) Declared Shutdown Date * Dungeness B 1090 2018 Hinkley Point B 860 ** 2016 Hunterston B 840 ** 2016 Notes Hartlepool 1190 2014 Heysham 1 1160 2014 Heysham 2 1230 2023 Torness 1250 2023 * All dates subject to extension if technically and financially viable ** 70% design output limit applies: temperature limit on boiler bifurcations
Magnox: AGR: 7620 1415 MW(e) TOTAL: 9035 MW(e)
The first two fully commercial Magnox reactors, at Berkeley in Gloucestershire, formally entered the Safe Store regime on 22 nd February 2011
NDA has responsibility for decommissioned sites, and issues management licenses for the operations needed to prepare the sites for Care and Maintenance and subsequent Safe Storage usually to the original operating Companies.
Whilst CoRWM has re-examined strategies for ultimate ILW disposal and found in favour of the deep repository route, alternative strategies are not ruled out for example, in the graphite context, where UK is the major world stakeholder, there will be full participation in the forthcoming CRP on Treatment Options...
Whilst the UK s future commercial nuclear build will be PWRs, UK design and contracting companies will continue to provide expertise into potential future HTR developments internationally e.g. Amec, Serco, Rolls Royce (turbines) etc. These organisations, along with numerous smaller consultancies such as Frazer Nash, Quintessa etc., support AGR continuing operations and life extension.
Nuclear training, esp. Manchester and Imperial CARBOWASTE partner; materials research, esp. Graphite tomography etc.); FE component and graphite-structure analysis; partner with TU Delft on U-Battery (was to be CO 2 coolant now redesigned on helium): working on graphite behaviour and reactor physics): also collaboration with INL and University of Idaho on characterisation of graphite wastes, especially 14 C; FUNGRAPH
Coolant channel Fuel column Internal side reflector Fuel compact FBP rod (a) Active core (b) Fuel block
Hull: Materials and Engineering; computer modelling Leeds: Materials (especially graphite) Sussex: computational chemistry and physics relating to structures in irradiated graphite; Bristol: materials Stirling: knowledge-management and data-management systems