26 July (NucNet): The UK’s Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) has given formal consent for British Nuclear Group to decommission the Dungeness A Magnox nuclear power plant once electrical generation finishes at the end of 2006.
British Nuclear Group, the specialist decommissioning business of state-owned British Nuclear Fuels, said on 25 July 2006 that the decision follows extensive consultations over the impact of decommissioning on the surrounding environment and local communities.
The first stage of decommissioning will be to remove all the fuel from the two Magnox reactors and transport it to Sellafield in north-west England for reprocessing. This work is scheduled to be completed by 2009, resulting in the removal of most of the radioactive inventory from the site.
All plant and buildings, except for the reactor containment, will be removed by 2021, with final site clearance scheduled for 2111.
Dungeness A, in south-east England, has two 225-megawatt gas-cooled Magnox reactors. Both units began commercial operation in 1965. The plant’s site manager Nick Gore said: “By the time the station ceases generating in December, it will have provided electricity safely for 40 years.”
Earlier this week, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, which has assumed responsibility for the UK’s nuclear legacy, said the twin-unit Wylfa Magnox nuclear power plant in north Wales will not have its operating life extended beyond 2010.
In May 2006, the NII granted formal consent for the decommissioning of the twin unit Sizewell A Magnox nuclear power plant, also in south-east England, once it ceases electrical generation at the end of 2006.
Twenty-six Magnox units were built in the UK – where the design originated – between 1956 and 1971.
