Hunterston, by the

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles (it is 164 metres deep at its deepest). The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic ...

, is a coastal area in

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It is the seat and estate of the Hunter family. As an area of flat land adjacent to deep natural water, it has been the site of considerable actual and proposed industrial development in the 20th century. The nearest town is

West Kilbride West Kilbride ( gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Iar) is a village and historic parish in North Ayrshire, Scotland, on the west coast by the Firth of Clyde, looking across the Firth of Clyde to Goat Fell and the Isle of Arran. West Kilbride and adjoining ...

. The

Hunterston Brooch The Hunterston Brooch is a highly important Celtic brooch of "pseudo-penannular" type found near Hunterston, North Ayrshire, Scotland, in either, according to one account, 1826 by two men from West Kilbride, who were digging drains at the foo ...

was found there. Actual or proposed developments on this site have included: *

Hunterston A nuclear power station Hunterston A nuclear power station is a decommissioned Magnox nuclear power station located at Hunterston in Ayrshire, Scotland, adjacent to Hunterston B. The ongoing decommissioning process is being managed by Nuclear Decommissioning Authorit ...

, the closed Magnox power station *

Hunterston B nuclear power station Hunterston B nuclear power station is a shut down AGR nuclear power station in North Ayrshire, Scotland. Located about south of Largs and about north-west of West Kilbride on the Firth of Clyde coast. It is currently operated by EDF Energy, and ...

, the Advanced gas-cooled reactor power station * Western HVDC Link, the 2.2 GW undersea power cable to

Flintshire Bridge The Flintshire Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge spanning the Dee Estuary in North Wales. The bridge links Flint and Connah's Quay to the shore north of the River Dee at the southern end of the Wirral Peninsula. The bridge cost £55million to con ...

, North Wales *

Hunterston Terminal Hunterston Terminal, in North Ayrshire, Scotland, was an iron ore and coal-handling port located at Fairlie on the Firth of Clyde, operated by Clydeport which was taken over by The Peel Group in 2003. It lies south of Fairlie, adjacent to Hunt ...

, the deep-water ore terminal and associated railhead built by British Steel * A construction yard, used to build

oil platform An oil platform (or oil rig, offshore platform, oil production platform, and similar terms) is a large structure with facilities to extract and process petroleum and natural gas that lie in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platfor ...

s between 1978 and 1983, a

Trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other marine ...

dry dock between 1988 and 1993 and a Gravity base Tank between 1993 and 1996 * A proposed Oil Refinery by Chevron in 1969 and 1973 * An integrated direct-reduction steel

blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric ...

proposed by

British Steel Corporation British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

. This was unused as its gas and fuel requirements were too great. The plant was moved to

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...

, in 1998. *A " clean coal" power station has been proposed for the site. Peel Energy is the main partner in the proposal. However, the plan was said to have "collapsed" in 2009 after £2 billion of financial backing from

DONG Energy Dong or DONG may refer to: Places * Dong Lake, or East Lake, a lake in China * Dong, Arunachal Pradesh, a village in India * Dong (administrative division) (동 or 洞), a neighborhood division in Korea Persons *Queen Dong (1623–1681), princes ...

was withdrawn.Watt, Chris (October 13, 2009) "Environmental groups claim victory after Hunterston plans collapse". ''The Herald''. Glasgow.

Trident Works Programme

A covered

floating dry dock Floating may refer to: * a type of dental work performed on horse teeth * use of an isolation tank * the guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and ...

for the

Vanguard-class submarine The ''Vanguard'' class is a class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) in service with the Royal Navy. The class was introduced in 1994 as part of the Trident nuclear programme, and comprises four vessels: , , and , built ...

s was built at Hunterston, and floated to

RNAD Coulport Royal Naval Armaments Depot Coulport, shortened to RNAD Coulport, on Loch Long in Argyll, Scotland, is the storage and loading facility for the nuclear warheads of the United Kingdom's Trident programme. The base, near the village of Coulport ...

where it has been situated since 1993. This Explosive Handling Jetty is one of the world's largest floating concrete structures.

References

External links

Virtual HunterstonHunterston A Power StationGravity Base TankHunterston Ore/Coal TerminalHunterston Oilrig StorySubmarine Dry DockOpposing the proposed power plantEverything about Hunterston
{{North Ayrshire Geography of North Ayrshire Trident (UK nuclear programme)