Dungeness Nuclear Power Station

Dungeness A Nuclear Power Station
Dungeness A
Location of Dungeness A Nuclear Power Station in Kent
Country	England
Location	Kent, South East England
Coordinates	50°54′50″N 0°57′50″E / 50.913889°N 0.963889°E / 50.913889; 0.963889Coordinates: 50°54′50″N 0°57′50″E / 50.913889°N 0.963889°E / 50.913889; 0.963889
Status	Decommissioning
Commission date	1965
Decommission date	2006
Owner(s)	NDA
Operator(s)	Magnox Ltd
Nuclear power station
Reactor type	Magnox
Reactor supplier	The Nuclear Power Group
Thermal power station
Primary fuel	Nuclear
Power generation
Units decommissioned	2 X 219 MWe net
Nameplate capacity	500 MWe
Website www.magnoxsites.co.uk/site/dungeness-a/
grid reference TR0832016959

Dungeness B Nuclear Power Station
Dungeness B
Location of Dungeness B Nuclear Power Station in Kent
Country	England
Location	Kent, South East England
Coordinates	50°54′50″N 0°57′50″E / 50.913889°N 0.963889°E / 50.913889; 0.963889
Status	Operational
Construction began	1965
Commission date	1983
Decommission date	Expected 2028
Operator(s)	EDF Energy
Nuclear power station
Reactor type	Advanced gas cooled reactor
Reactor supplier	Fairey Engineering Ltd
Thermal power station
Primary fuel	Nuclear
Power generation
Units operational	2 x 600 MWe (Operating at ~545 MWe net )
Nameplate capacity	1090 MWe
Website www.edfenergy.com/energy/power-stations/dungeness-b
grid reference TR0832016959

Dungeness nuclear power station may refer to either one of a pair of nuclear power stations, only one of which is still operational, located on the Dungeness headland in the south east of Kent, England.

Dungeness A is a legacy Magnox power station that was connected to the National Grid in 1965 and has reached the end of its life. It possessed two nuclear reactors producing 219 MW of electricity each, with a total capacity of 438 MW. The construction was undertaken by a consortium known as the Nuclear Power Group ('TNPG'). The reactors were supplied by TNPG and the turbines by C. A. Parsons & Co.

On 31 December 2006 the A station ceased power generation. Defuelling was completed in June 2012 and the demolition of the turbine hall was completed in June 2015. It is expected to enter 'care and maintenance' stage of decommissioning in 2027.

Dungeness B is an advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR) power station consisting of two 615 MW reactors, which began operations in 1983 and 1985 respectively. Dungeness B was the first commercial scale AGR power station to be constructed, the design being based on the much smaller Windscale AGR prototype; the WAGR. The £89 million contract was awarded in August 1965 to Atomic Power Construction ('APC'), a consortium backed by Crompton Parkinson, Fairey Engineering, International Combustion and Richardsons Westgarth. The completion date was set as 1970.

During construction, many problems were encountered in scaling up the WAGR design. Problems with the construction of the pressure vessel liner had distorted it such that the boilers, which were to fit in an annular space between the reactor and the pressure vessel, could not be installed, and the liner had to be partially dismantled and re-built. Although the cost of this work was relatively minor at about £200,000, the cost of financing for an extra 18 unproductive months a power station costing around £100 million of which some 60 per cent was already on the ground, was massive. Serious problems with the design of the boilers, which had to withstand the pounding of hot carbon dioxide (CO₂), pressurised to 600psi and pumped around the reactor coolant circuit by massive gas circulators, were also discovered, and the casings, hangers and tube supports all had to be redesigned. The cost of these modifications, and financing during the delays, caused severe financial pressures to the consortium and its backers, and in 1969 APC collapsed into administration.