Magnox Ltd
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Magnox Ltd is a
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 ...
Site Licence Company (SLC) under the
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, formed by the Energy Act 2004. It evolved from the Coal and Nuclear Liabilities Unit of the Department o ...
(NDA), a government body set up specifically to deal with the nuclear legacy under the
Energy Act 2004 The Energy Act 2004 (c 20) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerned with nuclear power, renewable and sustainable energy and energy regulation. Royal assent was granted on 22 July 2004. Part 1 Chapter 1 Section 10 Section 10 ...
. In September 2019, it became a direct subsidiary of the NDA. Magnox Ltd is responsible for the decommissioning of ten
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 stations 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 ...
and two former research facilities in the United Kingdom. The twelve sites are located at
Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...
, Bradwell,
Chapelcross Chapelcross nuclear power station is a former Magnox nuclear power station undergoing decommissioning. It is located in Annan in Dumfries and Galloway in southwest Scotland, and was in operation from 1959 to 2004. It was the sister plant to the ...
, Dungeness A, Hinkley Point A, Hunterston A, Oldbury, Sizewell A,
Trawsfynydd Trawsfynydd (; Welsh for "across hemountain") is a linear village in Gwynedd, Wales, near Llyn Trawsfynydd reservoir, and adjacent to the A470 north of Bronaber and Dolgellau and 10 km (6 miles) south of Blaenau Ffestiniog. The total com ...
,
Wylfa Wylfa nuclear power station ( cy, Atomfa'r Wylfa) is a Magnox nuclear power station undergoing decommissioning. Wylfa is situated west of Cemaes Bay on the island of Anglesey, off the northwestern coast of Wales. Construction of the two 490MW n ...
,
Harwell Harwell may refer to: People * Harwell (surname) * Harwell Hamilton Harris (1903–1990), American architect Places * Harwell, Nottinghamshire, England, a hamlet *Harwell, Oxfordshire, England, a village **RAF Harwell, a World War II RAF airfield, ...
and
Winfrith Winfrith Atomic Energy Establishment, or AEE Winfrith, was a United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority site near Winfrith Newburgh in Dorset. It covered an area on Winfrith Heath to the west of the village of Wool between the A352 road and the South ...
. All the sites have ceased production. In addition, as part of the Trawsfynydd unit, Magnox Ltd generates
hydro-electric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
power at
Maentwrog power station Maentwrog power station was built by the North Wales Power Company and supplied electricity to North Wales, Deeside and Cheshire. It exploits the water resources of the Snowdonia mountains, using water turbines to drive electricity alternators. T ...
. The only Magnox power station in the United Kingdom not managed by Magnox Ltd is
Calder Hall Sellafield is a large multi-function nuclear site close to Seascale on the coast of Cumbria, England. As of August 2022, primary activities are nuclear waste processing and storage and nuclear decommissioning. Former activities included nucle ...
, which is part of the
Sellafield Sellafield is a large multi-function nuclear site close to Seascale on the coast of Cumbria, England. As of August 2022, primary activities are nuclear waste processing and storage and nuclear decommissioning. Former activities included nucle ...
site and is controlled by
Sellafield Ltd Sellafield Ltd is a nuclear decommissioning Site Licence Company (SLC) controlled by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), a government body set up specifically to deal with the nuclear legacy under the Energy Act 2004. From 2008–2016, ...
.


History

Magnox Ltd is the successor company to Magnox Electric, which was created in 1996 to take ownership of the Magnox assets from
Nuclear Electric Nuclear Electric was a nuclear power generation company in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1990 as part of the privatisation process of the UK Electricity Supply Industry. In 1996, it was amalgamated into a new company – British Energy, ...
and
Scottish Nuclear Scottish Nuclear was formed as a precursor to the privatisation of the electricity supply industry in Scotland on 1 April 1990. A purpose-built headquarters was built in 1992 in the new town of East Kilbride. It consisted of the nuclear assets ...
. The remaining nuclear power stations of these two companies, seven advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR) sites and one
pressurised water reactor A pressurized water reactor (PWR) is a type of light-water nuclear reactor. PWRs constitute the large majority of the world's nuclear power plants (with notable exceptions being the UK, Japan and Canada). In a PWR, the primary coolant (water) is ...
(PWR) site, were transferred to a separate company,
British Energy British Energy was the UK's largest electricity generation company by volume, before being taken over by Électricité de France (EDF) in 2009. British Energy operated eight former UK state-owned nuclear power stations and one coal-fired power ...
, which was then
privatised Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
in 1996. In January 1998, Magnox Electric came under the control of another
government-owned company A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the government ...
,
British Nuclear Fuels Ltd British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL) was a nuclear energy and fuels company owned by the UK Government. It was a manufacturer of nuclear fuel (notably MOX), ran reactors, generated and sold electricity, reprocessed and managed spent fuel (mainly ...
, operating as BNFL Magnox Generation. Following the reorganisation of the UK nuclear industry in 2005, ownership of BNFL's Magnox sites transferred to the newly created
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, formed by the Energy Act 2004. It evolved from the Coal and Nuclear Liabilities Unit of the Department o ...
(NDA). BNFL created a new subsidiary,
Reactor Sites Management Company EnergySolutions (stylized as Energy''Solutions''), headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, is one of the largest processors of low level waste (LLW) in America, making it also one of the world's largest nuclear waste processors. It was formed in 20 ...
(RSMC), to manage and operate Magnox Electric on behalf of the NDA. In June 2007, BNFL sold RSMC to the newly formed US company
EnergySolutions EnergySolutions (stylized as Energy''Solutions''), headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, is one of the largest processors of low level waste (LLW) in America, making it also one of the world's largest nuclear waste processors. It was formed in 20 ...
; and transferred operational and management responsibilities of Magnox sites to the US company. On 1 October 2008, Magnox Electric was split into two companies based on the locations of the sites. Magnox North became the operator of Chapelcross, Hunterston A, Oldbury, Trawsfynydd and Wylfa. Magnox South became and operator of Berkeley, Bradwell, Dungeness, Hinkley Point A and Sizewell A. Both companies continued to be managed by RSMC. In January 2011, to reduce costs and to help extend best practices across all sites, it was decided to reverse the split with Magnox North and Magnox South recombining as Magnox Ltd. In 2015, the Harwell and Winfrith sites managed by Research Sites Restoration Limited (RSRL) were brought under the management of Magnox Ltd. In 2017, the NDA decided to terminate the contract with Cavendish Fluor Partnership believing a simplified approach would provide a more efficient decommissioning programme. Magnox Ltd became a subsidiary of the NDA on 3 September 2019. In February 2018, the UK parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) concluded that the NDA had "dramatically under-estimated" costs and "completely failed" in the procurement and management of the contract, which was one of the highest value contracts let by the government. An independent inquiry into the deal was set up.


See also

*
Nuclear power in the United Kingdom Nuclear power in the United Kingdom generated 16.1% of the country's electricity in 2020. , the UK has 9 operational nuclear reactors at five locations (8 advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGR) and one pressurised water reactor (PWR)), producing 5. ...


References


External links

* {{British nuclear power plants Nuclear technology companies of the United Kingdom Nuclear waste companies 2011 establishments in England Waste companies established in 2011 British companies established in 2011