Berkeley nuclear power station is a decommissioned

Magnox Magnox is a type of nuclear power/production reactor that was designed to run on natural uranium with graphite as the moderator and carbon dioxide gas as the heat exchange coolant. It belongs to the wider class of gas-cooled reactors. The n ...

nuclear power station A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a generator that produces elec ...

situated on the bank of the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

in Gloucestershire, England. The ongoing decommissioning process is being managed by Nuclear Decommissioning Authority subsidiary Magnox Ltd.

History

The construction of the power station, which was undertaken by a consortium of AEI and John Thompson, began in 1956. It had two

reactors producing 276megawatts (MW) in total – enough electricity on a typical day to serve an urban area the size of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. The reactors were supplied by

The Nuclear Power Group ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

(TNPG) and the turbines by AEI. Electricity generation started in 1962 and ran for 27 years to 1989. Nuclear fuel for Berkeley power station was delivered and removed via the nearest railhead, a loading facility on the Sharpness single railway line. This included a dedicated siding and a gantry crane.

Specification

Berkeley had four 83MW turbo-alternator generators, giving a gross capability of 334.4MW and a net capability of 276MW.''CEGB Statistical Yearbook'', 1981, CEGB, London. The steam conditions at the turbine stop valve were 20.3 / 3.9bar and 319 / 316°C. In the year 1978/9 the station generated 1,392.63GWh, and in 1980/1 the station generated 1,003.923GWh, The overall thermal efficiency of the station in 1981 was 21.12 per cent.

Closure

Reactor 2 was shut down in October 1988, followed by Reactor 1 in March 1989. Berkeley was the first commercial

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

station in the United Kingdom to be decommissioned. So far the

nuclear decommissioning Nuclear decommissioning is the process whereby a nuclear facility is dismantled to the point that it no longer requires measures for radiation protection. The presence of radioactive material necessitates processes that are potentially occupat ...

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. The next step of decommissioning will be the care and maintenance stage of the nuclear reactor structures, scheduled to commence in 2026, until radioactive decay means that they can be demolished and the site completely cleared between 2070 and 2080. Berkeley nuclear power station February 2014

Berkeley nuclear power station February 2014

In March 2012, five of the 310-tonne boilers were moved from the station to Sweden for decontamination and recycling. In December 2013, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority selected Berkeley as the preferred interim store for

Intermediate-level waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapons r ...

from the decommissioned

Oldbury nuclear power station Oldbury nuclear power station is a Magnox nuclear power station undergoing decommissioning. It is located on the south bank of the River Severn close to the village of Oldbury-on-Severn in South Gloucestershire, England. The ongoing decommi ...

. This became operational in 2014. Berkeley is one of four nuclear power stations located close to the mouth of the River Severn and the

Bristol Channel The Bristol Channel ( cy, Môr Hafren, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Seve ...

, the others being Oldbury, Hinkley Point A and Hinkley Point B. , a fifth,

Hinkley Point C Hinkley Point C nuclear power station (HPC) is a two-unit, 3,200 MWe EPR nuclear power station under construction in Somerset, England. The site was one of eight announced by the British government in 2010, and in November 2012 a nuclear site ...

, is under construction. The surrounding area is designated a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

(SSSI) and

Special Protection Area A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and cert ...

(SPA) and a

RAMSAR Ramsar may refer to: * Places so named: ** Ramsar, Mazandaran, city in Iran ** Ramsar, Rajasthan, village in India * Eponyms of the Iranian city: ** Ramsar Convention concerning wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran ** Ramsar site, wetland listed in ...

wetland of international importance.

Berkeley Nuclear Laboratories

Just south of the power station were Berkeley Nuclear Laboratories, one of the UK’s three main nuclear power industry research centres. At its peak about 750 staff worked at the labs including 200 scientists and engineers. By 2023, the site and some surrounding land was converted into a technology park now called Gloucestershire Science & Technology Park, by a subsidiary of South Gloucestershire and Stroud College. At the centre of the site the former engineering rig hall, building D24, the John Huggett Engineering Hall, was converted into a college engineering campus. Alongside which was built a university technical college. The site now accommodates Bloodhound LSR and

Gloucestershire Constabulary Gloucestershire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire in England. The force formerly covered the area of South Gloucestershire, however this was transformed to the ...

References

External links