Facts and figures
Berkeley power station is the first commercial nuclear power station in the United Kingdom to be decommissioned. The station, located in Gloucestershire in the south west of England, had twin reactors, with a combined output of 276 MW. It was closed in 1989 following 27 years of successful operation.
| Basics | |
| Location: | Gloucestershire |
| Nearby towns/cities: | Berkeley, Gloucester |
| Site area: | 27 hectares |
| Number of current employees: | 209 |
| Key dates | |
| Construction start: | Power Station 1957, Laboratories 1959 |
| Construction end: | Power Station 1962, Laboratories 1960 |
| Start operation: | Power Station 1962, Laboratories 1961 |
| End operation: | Power Station 1989, Laboratories 2004 |
| Defuelling start: | Power Station 1989, Laboratories N/A |
| Defuelling end: | Power Station 1992, Laboratories N/A |
| Care & Maintenance Preparations start: | Power Station 1992, Laboratories 2003 |
| Care & Maintenance Preparations end: | 2011 |
| Plant description | |
| Reactor type: | Magnox |
| Number of reactors: | 2 |
| Number of fuel channels per reactor: | 3,275 |
| Number of fuel elements per channel: | 13 |
| Number of control rods: | 132 |
| Fuel material: | Natural uranium |
| Reactor coolant: | Carbon dioxide |
| Number of turbo generators: | 4 |
| Electrical output – design (net): | 300MW |
| Station lifetime output to date: | 43TWh |
| Previous operators: | CEGB, Nuclear Electric, Magnox Electric/BNFL |
| Adjacent nuclear power station: | None |
| Unique facts | |
| Berkeley was the UK's first nuclear power station to be built purely for commercial purposes. The nuclear laboratories, established as a centre of nuclear research and development for the UK electricity supply industry, later became a centre for direct engineering and technical support to the company's power stations, and the managerial headquarters of the company. | |
Lowering the Berkeley boilers
