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Heysham nuclear power station

Heysham nuclear power station
Heysham 1 & 2
Map
CountryEngland
LocationHeysham, Lancashire
Coordinates54°1′44″N 2°54′58″W / 54.02889°N 2.91611°W / 54.02889; -2.91611
StatusOperational
Construction began
  • Unit A-1: 1 December 1970 (1970-12-01)[1]
  • Unit A-2: 1 December 1970 (1970-12-01)[2]
  • Unit B-1: 1 August 1980 (1980-08-01)[3]
  • Unit B-2: 1 August 1980 (1980-08-01)[4]
Commission date
  • Unit A-1: 9 July 1983 (1983-07-09)[1]
  • Unit A-2: 11 October 1984 (1984-10-11)[2]
  • Unit B-1: 12 July 1988 (1988-07-12)[3]
  • Unit B-2: 11 November 1988 (1988-11-11)[4]
Decommission date
  • Heysham 1: March 2027 (2027-03)[5]
  • Heysham 2: March 2030 (2030-03)[5]
(planned)
OwnerEDF Energy
OperatorEDF Energy
Nuclear power station
Reactors4 (Units A-1 and A-2 in Heysham 1, Units B-1 and B-2 in Heysham 2)
Reactor typeGCR - AGR
Thermal power station
Primary fuelUranium dioxide
Cooling sourceCarbon dioxide
Thermal capacity
Power generation
Units operational
  • 1 × 485 MWe (Unit A-1 in Heysham 1)[1]
  • 1 × 575 MWe (Unit A-2 in Heysham 1) [2]
  • 2 × 620 MWe (Heysham 2)[3][4]
Nameplate capacity2,452 MWe (Total)
Capacity factor
  • Lifetime: (As of the end of 2021)
  • Unit A-1: 67.2%[1]
  • Unit A-2: 66.3%[2]
  • Unit B-1: 78.1%[3]
  • Unit B-2: 77.4%[4]
Annual net output
  • 2021:
  • 5,760.93 GWh (20,739.3 TJ) (Heysham 1)[1][2]
  • 5,787.26 GWh (20,834.1 TJ) (Heysham 2)[3][2]
  • 11,548.19 GWh (41,573.5 TJ) (Total)
External links
Website
CommonsRelated media on Commons

grid reference SD4000459632

The Heysham nuclear power stations are operated by EDF Energy in Heysham, Lancashire, England. On the site two separate nuclear power stations, Heysham 1 and Heysham 2 operate independently, only with joint entry protocol, both with two reactors of the advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR) type.

In 2010, the British government announced that Heysham was one of the eight sites it considered suitable for future nuclear power stations.[6]

On 1 August 2016, Heysham 2's Unit 8 broke the world record for longest continuous operation of a nuclear power reactor without a shutdown. This record-breaking run exceeds the previous record of 894 days set by Pickering Nuclear Generating Station's Unit 7 (Lake Ontario, Canada) in 1994. The reactor had generated 13.5 TWh of electricity so far during this continuous operation, taking its lifetime generation to 115.46 TWh.[7]

In December 2024, EDF, the owner and operator of the plant declared a life extension of 1 year for Heysham 1 and of 2 years for Heysham 2. They will now operate until 2027 and 2030 respectively.

  1. ^ a b c d e f "HEYSHAM A-1". Public Reactor Information System. IAEA. 29 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "HEYSHAM A-2". Public Reactor Information System. IAEA. 29 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "HEYSHAM B-1". Public Reactor Information System. IAEA. 29 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e "HEYSHAM B-2". Public Reactor Information System. IAEA. 29 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference 24ext was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Nuclear power: Eight sites identified for future plants". BBC News. BBC. 18 October 2010. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
  7. ^ "British reactor takes record for longest continuous operation". World Nuclear News. Retrieved 10 October 2024.

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