Facts and figures
Sizewell A, located on the Suffolk heritage coast ended 40 years of safe, compliant electrical generation on 31 December 2006. A number of enabling projects are currently taking place as the site continues Defuelling and Decommissioning preparations.
During the station’s operational lifetime its twin Magnox reactors produced over 110 TWh of electricity.
| Basics | |
| Location: | Suffolk |
| Nearby towns/cities: | Leiston (2 miles), Ipswich (20 miles) |
| Site area: | 10 hectares |
| Number of current employees: | 436 |
| Key dates | |
| Construction start: | 1960 |
| Construction end: | 1966 |
| Start operation: | 1966 |
| End operation: | 2006 |
| Defuelling start: | 2007 |
| Defuelling end: | 2010 |
| Care & Maintenance Preparations start: | 2010 |
| Care & Maintenance Preparations end: | 2018 |
| Plant description | |
| Reactor type: | Magnox |
| Number of reactors: | 2 |
| Number of fuel channels per reactor: | 3,784 |
| Number of fuel elements per channel: | 7 |
| Number of control rods: | 107 |
| Fuel material: | Natural uranium |
| Reactor coolant: | Carbon dioxide |
| Number of turbo generators: | 2 |
| Electrical output – design (net): | 580MW (out) |
| Station lifetime output to date: | Over 110 TWh |
| Adjacent nuclear power station: | British Energy’s Sizewell B |
| Unique facts | |
| On a typical day, Sizewell A produced enough electricity to serve the energy needs of one-third of East Anglia | |
*WANO RUP – World Association of Nuclear Operators Reference Unit Power
