Lifetime strategy
The current preferred strategy for decommissioning Hinkley Point A like all UK Magnox nuclear power stations is deferred site clearance, allowing for total site clearance around 100 years after cessation of generation. It minimises risk to workers, public and the environment, minimises waste volumes, is technically straight forward and makes financial sense.
Magnox South Ltd is applying its knowledge and expertise to accelerate the decommissioning work plan which doesn’t preclude a reduction in the 100-year period to total site clearance.
Having successfully completed the defuelling of Hinkley Point A’s reactor vessels, some of the largest in the world, we are now focused on the care and maintenance preparations phase of the decommissioning plan.
The decommissioning plan at Hinkley Point A
2000-2004 Defuelling
- Removal of 71,828 fuel elements (701 tonnes) of irradiated fuel from the station’s twin reactor vessels – completed in November 2004
2004-2015 Care & Maintenance Preparations
- Retrieval, processing and packaging of accumulated intermediate level waste and placement in a newly constructed store
- Deplanting and demolition of the buildings within the Reactor Controlled Area
- Extensive deplanting within the reactor buildings, retaining the reactor structures and primary gas circuit components in a passively safe state
- Deplanting and demolition of buildings within the conventional area of the site
- Construction of new facilities to manage low level radioactive waste generated from dismantling and demolition work
- Implementation of a management strategy for any contaminated land
- Weatherproofing and securing the few remaining buildings for the quiescent period
2015-2095 Care & Maintenance
- Site monitored for reactor conditions and security as the radioactivity inside the reactors naturally decays
- Radiological and environmental monitoring
- Regular inspection of site conditions and maintenance where necessary
- Emptying and demolition of the intermediate level waste store (scheduled 2046 – 2048)
- Transportation of all intermediate level waste for permanent disposal off site in line with UK strategy
2095-2104 Final Site Clearance
- Installation of infrastructure facilities
- Dismantling and demolition of all remaining buildings on site
- Removal and management of all remaining waste
- Land surveying and remediation
- Site delicensed and made available for potential reuse
Hinkley Point A Lifetime Plan
