| Power Plant | Type of reactor | Start of Generation |
Power Station Lifetime (Formally Declared) |
Life Extensions (Already Formally Declared) | Associated Scheduled Closure Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hinkley Point B | Hinkley Point B Type of reactorAGR |
Hinkley Point B Start of GenerationFeb. 1976 |
Hinkley Point B Power Station Lifetime (Formally Declared) 46 years |
Hinkley Point B Life Extensions (Already Formally Declared)21 years |
Hinkley Point B Associated Scheduled Closure Date2022 |
| Hunterston B | Hunterston B Type of reactorAGR |
Hunterston B Start of GenerationFeb. 1976 |
Hunterston B Power Station Lifetime (Formally Declared) 46 years |
Hunterston B Life Extensions (Already Formally Declared)21 years |
Hunterston B Associated Scheduled Closure Date2022 |
| Dungeness B | Dungeness B Type of reactorAGR |
Dungeness B Start of GenerationApr. 1983 |
Dungeness B Power Station Lifetime (Formally Declared) 38 years |
Dungeness B Life Extensions (Already Formally Declared)13 years |
Dungeness B Associated Scheduled Closure Date2021 |
| Heysham 1 | Heysham 1 Type of reactorAGR |
Heysham 1 Start of GenerationJuly 1983 |
Heysham 1 Power Station Lifetime (Formally Declared) 41 years |
Heysham 1 Life Extensions (Already Formally Declared)17 years |
Heysham 1 Associated Scheduled Closure Date2026 |
| Hartlepool | Hartlepool Type of reactorAGR |
Hartlepool Start of GenerationAug. 1983 |
Hartlepool Power Station Lifetime (Formally Declared) 41 years |
Hartlepool Life Extensions (Already Formally Declared)17 years |
Hartlepool Associated Scheduled Closure Date2026 |
| Torness | Torness Type of reactorAGR |
Torness Start of GenerationMay 1988 |
Torness Power Station Lifetime (Formally Declared) 40 years |
Torness Life Extensions (Already Formally Declared)15 years |
Torness Associated Scheduled Closure Date2028 |
| Heysham 2 | Heysham 2 Type of reactorAGR |
Heysham 2 Start of GenerationJuly 1988 |
Heysham 2 Power Station Lifetime (Formally Declared) 40 years |
Heysham 2 Life Extensions (Already Formally Declared)15 years |
Heysham 2 Associated Scheduled Closure Date2028 |
| Sizewell B | Sizewell B Type of reactorPWR |
Sizewell B Start of GenerationFeb. 1995 |
Sizewell B Power Station Lifetime (Formally Declared) 40 years |
Sizewell B Life Extensions (Already Formally Declared)– |
Sizewell B Associated Scheduled Closure Date2035 |
* As formally recorded by EDF Energy and approved by the NDA.
In the UK, radioactive waste is classified into four categories:
EDF Energy nuclear generation’s strategy for LLW and HAW reflects that the UK and Scottish Governments are focused on application of the waste hierarchy (reduce, reuse, recycle, recover). The use of a range of waste recycling and disposal routes will help to make the best use of the UK’s Low Level Waste Repository (LLWR) in Cumbria. Only a disposal route for LLW currently exists in the UK.
HAW is stored for the medium-term in safe, purpose-built facilities at EDF Energy’s stations while longer term national solutions are being established within England and Scotland.
Spent fuel from the AGRs is transported to Sellafield nuclear reprocessing site (owned by Sellafield Limited, a subsidiary of the NDA) for long term storage.
PWR spent fuel from Sizewell B is stored on site in a purpose-built spent fuel dry storage facility which will safely store all of the spent fuel that will be generated over Sizewell B’s life. Following long-term surface storage, the Sizewell B PWR spent fuel will be disposed to a future UK geological disposal facility.
The AGR spent fuel arrangements were agreed at the time of the restructuring of British Energy and through them EDF Energy pays for long term storage (and in previous years reprocessing) of spent nuclear fuel. Sizewell B’s fuel storage strategy is approved by the NDA as it is funded by the Nuclear Liabilities Fund. EDF Energy has policies to continually improve and optimise the spent fuel and waste arising through the company’s wider safety, sustainability and environmental policies.
Regulatory notice
In the United Kingdom, EDF is required, under nuclear site licence Condition 34, to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that radioactive material and radioactive waste on its sites is adequately controlled or contained so that it cannot leak or escape.
In England the Environment Agency (EA) regulates the disposal of radioactive waste from licensed nuclear sites under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) regulations 2016. These regulations also regulate what was previously governed by Pollution Prevention and Control, Water Resources Act discharge consents, Flood Risk activity consents and Waste Management licensing.
The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) published its recommendations for the long-term management of higher activity waste in 2006. In response, the UK government decided to prefer the use of deep geological disposal facilities for the storage of higher activity waste in England. It set the framework for the management of long-term storage through geological storage, combined with a safe and secure interim storage.
In Scotland, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) regulates the disposal of radioactive waste from licensed nuclear sites. The Scottish Government is pursuing a near surface near site long storage or disposal policy for HAW arising from Scottish sites.
In the United Kingdom, EDF is subject to nuclear site licence Condition 35 which forms the basis for the detailed decommissioning plans and programmes required by the ONR, but its requirements must be taken into account with other legal provisions such as the Nuclear Reactors (Environmental Impact Assessment for Decommissioning) regulations 1999 which require an assessment of the environmental impact of decommissioning and mitigation measures to reduce the environmental impact.
Decommissioning is usually carried out in stages, with ONR formal approval required to move on to the next stage. The ONR may order operators to start or cease decommissioning at any time and must approve decommissioning plans for each stage of the decommissioning process.
Prospective operators of nuclear power plants are required to submit in their FDP (Funding Decommissioning Programme), a Decommissioning and Waste Management Plan (DWMP), setting out the operator’s costed plans for meeting its decommissioning and waste management and disposal obligations, and a Funding Arrangements Plan (FAP), explaining how the operator will make financial provision for its obligations. Chapter 1 of Part 3 of the Energy Act 2008 (EA 2008) sets out the rules governing the decommissioning and clean-up of nuclear sites, along with detailed provisions on FDPs. Also see note 15.2.3 “Provisions for nuclear plant decommissioning” of consolidated accounts.
