Oldbury nuclear power station
Encyclopedia
Oldbury nuclear power station is a nuclear power station
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...

 located on the south bank of the River Severn
River Severn
The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...

 close to the village of Oldbury-on-Severn
Oldbury-on-Severn
Oldbury-on-Severn is a small village near the mouth of the River Severn in South Gloucestershire. It is home to the nearby Oldbury nuclear power station, a Magnox power station which opened in 1967 and is due to cease operation in 2011....

 in South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire is a unitary district in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, in South West England.-History:The district was created in 1996, when the county of Avon was abolished, by the merger of former area of the districts of Kingswood and Northavon...

, England. It is operated by Magnox North Limited, on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is a non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom formed by the Energy Act 2004. It came into existence in late 2004, and took on its main functions on 1 April 2005...

 (NDA). Oldbury is one of four stations located close to the mouth of the River Severn and the Bristol Channel
Bristol Channel
The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Severn to the North Atlantic Ocean...

, the others being Berkeley
Berkeley nuclear power station
Berkeley nuclear power station is a disused Magnox power station situated on the bank of the River Severn in Gloucestershire, England.-History:The construction of the power station, which was undertaken by a consortium of AEI and John Thompson began in 1956....

, Hinkley Point A
Hinkley Point A nuclear power station
Hinkley Point A nuclear power station was a Magnox power station located on a site in Somerset on the Bristol Channel coast, west of the River Parrett estuary.-History:...

 and Hinkley Point B
Hinkley Point B nuclear power station
Hinkley Point B is a nuclear power station near Bridgwater, Somerset, on the Bristol Channel coast of south west England.-History:The construction of Hinkley Point B, which was undertaken by a consortium known as The Nuclear Power Group , started in 1967. The reactors were supplied by TNPG and the...

.

History

Opened in 1967, it had two Magnox
Magnox
Magnox is a now obsolete type of nuclear power reactor which was designed and is still in use in the United Kingdom, and was exported to other countries, both as a power plant, and, when operated accordingly, as a producer of plutonium for nuclear weapons...

 reactors producing 424 megawatts
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...

 (MWe) in total – enough electricity on a typical day to serve an urban area twice the size of Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

. Reactor 1 went critical on 18th September 1967 and first generated electricity on 9th November 1967, Reactor 2 started generating electricity in April of 1968.

The construction was undertaken by a consortium known as The Nuclear Power Group ('TNPG'). The reactors were supplied by TNPG and the turbines by AEI
Associated Electrical Industries
Associated Electrical Industries was a British holding company formed in 1928 through the merger of the British Thomson-Houston Company and Metropolitan-Vickers electrical engineering companies...

 and C. A. Parsons & Co. The main civil engineering contractor was Alfred McAlpine
Alfred McAlpine
Alfred McAlpine plc was a British construction firm headquartered in London. It was a major road builder, and constructed over 10% of Britain's motorways, including the M6 Toll...

. Construction on site began in 1961.

Oldbury was the first nuclear power station in the UK to use prestressed concrete
Prestressed concrete
Prestressed concrete is a method for overcoming concrete's natural weakness in tension. It can be used to produce beams, floors or bridges with a longer span than is practical with ordinary reinforced concrete...

 pressure vessels, earlier Magnox reactors having used steel pressure vessels more suited to smaller reactors.

The design net power output of the station was 600 MWe
MWE
MWE may refer to:*Manufacturer's Weight Empty*McDermott Will & Emery*Midwest Express, an airline*Merowe Airport - IATA code*Multiword expressionMWe may refer to:*Megawatt electrical...

, but due to steel corrosion problems from the hot carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...

 coolant within the reactor, operating temperature
Operating temperature
An operating temperature is the temperature at which an electrical or mechanical device operates. The device will operate effectively within a specified temperature range which varies based on the device function and application context, and ranges from the minimum operating temperature to the...

 had to be reduced soon after operation started causing a large drop in power output. Initially power output was set at 424 MWe, dropping to 400MWe by 1973. Then as remedial measures were adopted power was progressively increased to 434 MWe by 1983 with a gas outlet temperature of 365°C, compared to the 412°C design temperature, which was maintained as the normal operational output.

The station was originally to be decommissioned at the end of 2008, however the reactors continued use has been licensed in various stages for an additional two and a half years in the case of reactor 2 (now shutdown) and 4 years for reactor 1.
Reactor 2 ceased operating permanently on 30 June 2011. Reactor 1 will cease operating from February 2012.

Incidents

On 30 May 2007, only a few days after reopening after safety checks, the power station was shut down as part of standard emergency procedure when a fire broke out on one of the generator transformer HV bushings. No-one was injured in the fire and no radiation was released. Information suggests an insulator overheated causing it to fail. Minor damage ensued resulting in a standard shutdown. This area is a significant distance from any reactor or material that could be considered any risk. All emergency procedures were commenced and by 11:30am the situation was stabilised.
The power station resumed production for a few days in June then shut down again. Production eventually resumed on 24 August 2007, at which point it had only produced electricity for eight days since August 2006.

On 17 Mar 2011 at 10:40, Reactor 2 was automatically shut down after an electrical problem.
Magnox stated that workers had been carrying out routine maintenance when a small relay overheated (this failure caused the turbine to shut down). Their spokesman went on to say "Because the turbine tripped the steam produced in the boilers couldn’t be sent to the turbine as it would normally and so was released through relief valves on top of the building." and "To reduce the amount of steam being produced, and in accordance with expectations, the reactor automatically tripped and was safely shut down."

On 14 July 2011, Reactor 1 was automatically shut down after 'problems with the refuelling machinery.' Large plumes of steam could be seen rising from the power station, concerning near-by residents. The incident came a week after the number 2 reactor was permanently shut down after its 43-year life because it had 'reached the end of its operational life'. Number 1 reactor is expected to be back on line within three weeks of the incident and to continue operating until the end of 2012.

The power station silt lagoons

The silt lagoons at Oldbury power station are used as a high tide roosting site by birds which feed on the Severn Estuary
Severn Estuary
The Severn Estuary is the estuary of the River Severn, the longest river in Great Britain. Its high tidal range means it has been at the centre of discussions in the UK regarding renewable energy.-Geography:...

. Between 1979 and 2005, 199 bird species were recorded at the site. This included a number of vagrants: a Green-winged Teal
Green-winged Teal
The Green-winged Teal is a common and widespread duck that breeds in the northern areas of North America except on the Aleutian Islands. It was considered conspecific with the Common Teal The Green-winged Teal (Anas carolinensis) is a common and widespread duck that breeds in the northern areas of...

 in January 2001, a Ring-necked Duck
Ring-necked Duck
The Ring-necked Duck is a smaller diving duck from North America.The adult male is similar in color pattern to the Eurasian Tufted Duck, its relative. It has a grey bill with a white band, a shiny purple head, a white breast, yellow eyes and a dark grey back...

 in April and May 2000, a Black-winged Stilt
Black-winged Stilt
The Black-winged Stilt or Common Stilt is a widely distributed very long-legged wader in the avocet and stilt family . Opinions differ as to whether the birds treated under the scientific name H. himantopus ought to be treated as a single species and if not, how many species to recognize...

 in May 1997, a Kentish Plover
Kentish Plover
The Kentish Plover, Charadrius alexandrinus, is a small wader in the plover bird family. Despite its name, this species no longer breeds in Kent, or even Great Britain...

 in August 1993, a Semipalmated Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
The Semipalmated Sandpiper, Calidris pusilla, is a very small shorebird. It is sometimes separated with other "stints" in Erolia but although these apparently form a monophyletic group, the present species' old genus Ereunetes had been proposed before Erolia.Adults have black legs and a short stout...

 in August 1990, a Temminck's Stint
Temminck's Stint
Temminck's Stint, Calidris or Erolia temminckii, is a small wader.This stint's breeding habitat is bogs and marshes in the taiga of Arctic northern Europe and Asia. It will breed in southern Scandinavia and occasionally Scotland. It has a distinctive hovering display flight. It nests in a scrape...

 in April 1984, a Pectoral Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
The Pectoral Sandpiper, Calidris melanotos, is a small wader. It is sometimes separated with the "stint" sandpipers in Erolia. This may or may not represent a good monophyletic group, depending on the placement of the phylogenetically enigmatic Curlew Sandpiper , the type species of Erolia...

 in September 1989, a Broad-billed Sandpiper
Broad-billed Sandpiper
The Broad-billed Sandpiper is a small wading bird. It is the only member of the genus Limicola; some have proposed that it should be placed in the genus Erolia with the "stint" sandpipers, but more recent research suggests that it is should rather go into the genus Philomachus with the ruff and...

 in August 1983, a Ring-billed Gull
Ring-billed Gull
The Ring-billed Gull is a medium-sized gull.Adults are length and with a wingspan. The head, neck and underparts are white; the relatively short bill is yellow with a dark ring; the back and wings are silver gray; and the legs are yellow. The eyes are yellow with red rims...

 in October 1994, and a Richard's Pipit
Richard's Pipit
The Richard's Pipit is a medium-sized passerine bird which breeds in open grasslands in northern Asia. It is a long-distance migrant moving to open lowlands in southern Asia. It is a rare but regular vagrant to western Europe...

 in October 1996.

Future nuclear plant plans

Horizon Nuclear Power
Horizon Nuclear Power
Horizon Nuclear Power is a British energy company expecting to build new nuclear power stations in the United Kingdom. It is an E.ON UK and RWE npower joint venture, established in 2009, with its head office in Gloucester....

, an E.ON
E.ON UK
E.ON UK is an energy company in the United Kingdom and a subsidiary of E.ON, the world's largest investor-owned power and gas company. As Powergen, it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but since 1 July 2002 has been owned by E.ON AG of...

 and RWE
RWE
RWE AG , is a German electric power and natural gas public utility company based in Essen. Through its various subsidiaries, the energy company contributes electricity and gas to more than 20 million electricity customers and 10 million gas customers, principally in Europe...

 joint venture, announced in 2009 intentions to install up to 3,300 MWe of new nuclear plant at Oldbury. Horizon is considering building up to either two 1,650 MWe Areva EPR
European Pressurized Reactor
The EPR is a third generation pressurized water reactor design. It has been designed and developed mainly by Framatome , Electricité de France in France, and Siemens AG in Germany...

 reactors, or three 1,100 MWe Westinghouse AP1000 reactors. As the Severn estuary
Severn Estuary
The Severn Estuary is the estuary of the River Severn, the longest river in Great Britain. Its high tidal range means it has been at the centre of discussions in the UK regarding renewable energy.-Geography:...

 water supply would be inadequate to cool these larger reactors, cooling tower
Cooling tower
Cooling towers are heat removal devices used to transfer process waste heat to the atmosphere. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb air temperature or in the case of closed circuit dry cooling towers rely...

s would be built.

On 18 October 2010 the British government announced that Oldbury was one of the eight sites it considered suitable for future nuclear power stations.

In popular culture

Oldbury was used as a filming location for the Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...

serial, The Hand of Fear
The Hand of Fear
The Hand of Fear is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 2 October to 23 October 1976...

. Filming at Oldbury took place in 1976. On one occasion, long running music show Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...

was even filmed inside one of the reactor buildings. The power station also appeared in several episodes of Blake's Seven http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0500272/locations.

See also

  • Nuclear power in the United Kingdom
    Nuclear power in the United Kingdom
    Nuclear power currently generates around a sixth of the United Kingdom's electricity. As of 2011, the United Kingdom operates 19 nuclear reactors at nine locations...

  • Energy policy of the United Kingdom
    Energy policy of the United Kingdom
    The current energy policy of the United Kingdom is set out in the Energy White Paper of May 2007 and Low Carbon Transition Plan of July 2009, building on previous work including the 2003 Energy White Paper and the Energy Review Report in 2006...

  • Energy use and conservation in the United Kingdom
    Energy use and conservation in the United Kingdom
    Energy use in the United Kingdom stood at 3,894.6 kilogrammes of oil equivalent per capita in 2005 compared to a world average of 1,778.0. In 2008, total energy consumed was 9.85 exajoules - around 2% of the estimated 474 EJ worldwide total...


External links

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