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hartlepool nuclear power station

Hartlepool power station is a nuclear power station situated on the northern bank of the mouth of the River Tees, 2.5 mi (4.0 km) south of Hartlepool in County Durham, North East England. The station has a net electrical output of 1,190 megawatts, which is 2% of Great Britain's peak electricity demand of 60 GW.[1] Electricity is produced through the use of two advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGR). Hartlepool was only the third nuclear power station in the United Kingdom to use AGR technology. Hartlepool power station was also the first power station to be built as close to a major urban area.

 

Originally planned in 1967, with construction starting in 1969, the station started generating electricity in 1983, and was completed in 1985, initially being operated by the Central Electricity Generating Board. With privatisation of the UK's electric supply industry in 1990, the station has been owned by Nuclear Electric and British Energy, but is now owned and operated by EDF Energy. On 18 October 2010 the British government announced that Hartlepool was one of the eight sites it considered suitable for future nuclear power stations.

 

History

 

With the economic success of another advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR) nuclear power station at Dungeness, the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) proposed their third AGR station in 1967 to be situated on the edge of the Durham coalfield, near the seaside resort of Seaton Carew. The proposal came at a time when the CEGB's move toward alternative fuels to coal, threatened the coal industry's existence. Despite this, and a short ministerial delay, the plans for the Seaton Carew station (which became known as Hartlepool nuclear power station) went ahead. Because the construction of the station was given the go ahead, the National Coal Board were not able to get the CEGB behind the plans for a prototype fluidised bed combustion (FBC) coal station at Grimethorpe in Yorkshire. Because of this, the UK missed out on pioneering FBC technology, before it became internationally recognised as the best way of burning coal.

 

Sited 1.65 mi (2.66 km) from Seaton Carew, and in the middle of the industrial complex of Teesside, the station was to be built closer to any major urban area than any nuclear power station site had been. To make this acceptable, the station's reactors were to be housed in prestressed concrete pressure vessels.

 

The station under construction in June 1972

The construction of the power station which was undertaken by Nuclear Design & Construction ('NDC'), a consortium backed by English Electric, Babcock International Group and Taylor Woodrow Construction,[4] began in 1969. The construction was delayed in 1970, when the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate declared that they were unhappy with part of the station's boiler design, setting the CEGB back £25 million.[3] The station's reactors were supplied by the National Nuclear Corporation, and the station's generating sets by the General Electric Company.[5] Some fourteen years into construction, the first of the station's two units were commissioned in 1983, the other in 1985.[3] The station first generated electricity commercially on 1 August 1983.

 

Specification

 

The station is of the advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR) type. It provides electricity for over 3% of the UK using two 1575 MWth advanced gas reactors to heat two 660 MWe generators, giving a maximum generating capacity of 1,320 MW.[1] The station's net electrical output is 1,190 MW. This is enough electricity to power 1.5 million homes

Hartlepool power station is a nuclear power station situated on the northern bank of the mouth of the River Tees, 2.5 mi (4.0 km) south of Hartlepool in County Durham, North East England. The station has a net electrical output of 1,190 megawatts, which is 2% of Great Britain's peak electricity demand of 60 GW. Electricity is produced through the use of two advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGR). Hartlepool was only the third nuclear power station in the United Kingdom to use AGR technology. Hartlepool power station was also the first power station to be built as close to a major urban area.

 

Originally planned in 1967, with construction starting in 1969, the station started generating electricity in 1983, and was completed in 1985, initially being operated by the Central Electricity Generating Board. With privatisation of the UK's electric supply industry in 1990, the station has been owned by Nuclear Electric and British Energy, but is now owned and operated by EDF Energy. On 18 October 2010 the British government announced that Hartlepool was one of the eight sites it considered suitable for future nuclear power stations.

 

History

 

With the economic success of another advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR) nuclear power station at Dungeness, the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) proposed their third AGR station in 1967 to be situated on the edge of the Durham coalfield, near the seaside resort of Seaton Carew. The proposal came at a time when the CEGB's move toward alternative fuels to coal, threatened the coal industry's existence. Despite this, and a short ministerial delay, the plans for the Seaton Carew station (which became known as Hartlepool nuclear power station) went ahead. Because the construction of the station was given the go ahead, the National Coal Board were not able to get the CEGB behind the plans for a prototype fluidised bed combustion (FBC) coal station at Grimethorpe in Yorkshire. Because of this, the UK missed out on pioneering FBC technology, before it became internationally recognised as the best way of burning coal.[3]

 

Sited 1.65 mi (2.66 km) from Seaton Carew, and in the middle of the industrial complex of Teesside, the station was to be built closer to any major urban area than any nuclear power station site had been. To make this acceptable, the station's reactors were to be housed in prestressed concrete pressure vessels.

 

The station under construction in June 1972

The construction of the power station which was undertaken by Nuclear Design & Construction ('NDC'), a consortium backed by English Electric, Babcock International Group and Taylor Woodrow Construction, began in 1969. The construction was delayed in 1970, when the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate declared that they were unhappy with part of the station's boiler design, setting the CEGB back £25 million. The station's reactors were supplied by the National Nuclear Corporation, and the station's generating sets by the General Electric Company.

Some fourteen years into construction, the first of the station's two units were commissioned in 1983, the other in 1985. The station first generated electricity commercially on 1 August 1983.

 

Specification

 

The station is of the advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR) type. It provides electricity for over 3% of the UK using two 1575 MWth advanced gas reactors to heat two 660 MWe generators, giving a maximum generating capacity of 1,320 MW.[1] The station's net electrical output is 1,190 MW. This is enough electricity to power 1.5 million homes

 

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Uploaded on November 23, 2012
Taken on November 21, 2012