Former Wylfa nuclear power station

link_to_french_translationFormer Wylfa nuclear power station

This power station generated 232 billion kW hours of electricity from 1971 to December 2015, when its last working reactor was shut down.

This location on the north coast of Anglesey was chosen for a nuclear power station because of its geological stability and easy access from the sea for construction materials. The proximity of seawater was important for cooling the twin nuclear reactors, the last and largest of the Magnox type. Construction began in 1963 and the station fed its first electricity into the supply grid in 1971. A high-voltage power line was built across Anglesey to transport the electricity.

The reactors were due to cease generation in 2010, but arrangements were made to extend the operating life of both reactors. The final shipment of Magnox fuel was delivered from Springfields Fuels Ltd in December 2011. Wylfa’s Reactor 2 was shutdown in April 2012 after 41 years of safe generation. The other reactor is due to close in September 2014. The defuelling phase (removing spent fuel rods from the reactors) will take place from 2015 to 2017. Following this, a decommissioning programme of work will take place, to prepare the site for long-term care and maintenance.

The reactors were due to cease generation in 2010, but arrangements were made to extend the operating life of both reactors. The final shipment of Magnox fuel was delivered from Springfields Fuels Limited in December 2011. Wylfa’s Reactor 2 closed in April 2012. The station ceased electricity production on 30 December 2015 and a decommissioning programme began to prepare the site for long-term maintenance. The site covers 207,900 square metres (20.79 hectares).

An information centre for visitors and school groups is provided just outside the site. A separate company, Horizon Nuclear Power, has proposed building a new nuclear power station nearby.

From 1965 to 1989 Wylfa power station was owned by the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB). It then transferred to Nuclear Electric plc, with the CEGB’s partial privatisation. From 1994 to 1998 it was operated by Magnox Electric plc, then for six years by British Nuclear Fuels plc, and from 2004 by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

The Wylfa estate includes the historic Cestyll Garden, designed by Violet Vivian and her friend Princess Victoria.

Postcode: LL67 0DH    View Location Map

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