Karl Herchenroeder
RW Monitor
1/8/2016
The Wylfa Nuclear Power Station in Anglesey, Wales, was shut down on Dec. 30, ending a 44-year run for the United Kingdom’s oldest nuclear plant.
The closure comes five years later than originally planned. Operator Magnox ceased fuel supply to the plant in 2008, but in 2010 found a way to effectively transfer partly used fuel from one reactor to another. In April 2012, Reactor 2 was shut down, and its fuel was used to allow Reactor 1 to remain in operation. Additional power production at Wylfa — as well as the Oldbury plant in South Gloucestershire — resulted in about £1 billion in additional revenue for U.K. taxpayers, according to Magnox.
The U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s stakeholder relations and socioeconomics manager for Magnox, Jonathan Jenkin, said the minimal amount of fuel left beyond 2015 would not have justified the measures needed to meet “a very stringent set of safety requirements,” so the plant closed.
The decades-long decommissioning of the plant is projected to cost £700 million. The U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority funds the cost of decommissioning its sites through a combination of direct government funding and income from commercial sites that it operates. Currently, the plan is for the site to be closed by 2026, and final site clearance is scheduled for completion between 2096 and 2105.
Wylfa is now moving into the next stage of its life cycle, with its fuel rods set for removal and delivery to Sellafield in Cumbria, England, for reprocessing. According to a Magnox press release, defueling of Reactor 1 is set to begin in early summer 2016, with a fuel-free target date in late 2018.
“Wylfa has been a terrific success story for the U.K. nuclear industry, going beyond any expectations,” site director Stuart Law said in a press release. “Our successful extension of generation is largely down to the hard work of all the staff that have operated, supported, and looked after the plant. I am sure that today will mean a lot to staff both past and present and indeed anyone who has walked through our turnstiles. Today marks a safe and dignified end to the generation of electricity at Wylfa, and indeed for Magnox, and I am proud to say that I was a part of it.”
On Thursday, Magnox delivered its final flask of fuel from Oldbury to Sellafield for reprocessing, which means Oldbury is now 99 percent radioactive-material free, according to World Nuclear News. The publication reported that Oldbury, which operated between 1967 and 2012, is now moving into decommissioning with the goal of attaining care and maintenance by 2027.
