Berkeley nuclear power station

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Berkeley nuclear power station is situated on the bank of the River Severn in Gloucestershire, England. Construction began in 1956 and the power station opened in 1962.^[1] It had two Magnox reactors producing 276 MW in total – enough electricity on a typical day to serve an urban area the size of Bristol.^[2]

Reactor 2 was shut down in October 1988, followed by Reactor 1 in March 1989. Berkeley and was the first commercial nuclear power station in the United Kingdom to be decommissioned following its closure in 1989.^[2] So far the nuclear decommissioning process has involved the removal of all fuel from the site in 1992, and the demolition of structures such as the turbine hall in 1995 and cooling ponds in 2001.^[3] The next step of decommissioning will be the care and maintenance stage of the nuclear reactor structures until radioactive decay means that they can be demolished and the site completely cleared.

Berkeley is one of four stations located close to the mouth of the River Severn and the Bristol Channel, the others being Oldbury, Hinkley Point A and Hinkley Point B.

[edit] See also

• Energy policy of the United Kingdom
• Energy use and conservation in the United Kingdom

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• British Nuclear Group - Berkeley
• Nuclear Decommissioning Authority - Berkeley
• World Nuclear Association - Decommissioning at Berkeley
• Berkeley Site Stakeholder Group

v • d • e Nuclear power in the United Kingdom Reactors Magnox Active Oldbury · Wylfa Closed Berkeley · Bradwell · Calder Hall · Chapelcross · Dungeness A · Hunterston A · Hinkley Point A · Sizewell A · Trawsfynydd AGR Dungeness B · Hartlepool · Heysham Stage 1 · Heysham Stage 2 · Hinkley Point B · Hunterston B · Torness PWR | FBR Sizewell B  |  Dounreay Other Sites Sellafield (Reprocessing)  · Springfields (Fuel manufacture)  · Capenhurst (Uranium enrichment) Organisations BNFL (British Nuclear Fuels plc) · British Nuclear Group (BNG) · British Energy · Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) · Nuclear Installations Inspectorate · Nuclear Liabilities Fund · United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA)

Coordinates: 51°41′33″N 2°29′37″W / 51.6925, -2.49361