UK’s oldest nuclear power plant closes

• 8 years ago (2016-01-08)

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Built in 1971, the plant was based on the island of Anglesey and represents the last in the old fleet of gas-cooled reactors – modern reactors use water as a coolant. During its peak, Wylfa was the world’s most powerful nuclear power plant in the early 1970s, as it generated 1000 MW of electricity.

The site is expected to be cleared by 2026. The removal of the remaining fuel is expected to take up to three years, although the reactor buildings themselves will only be fully decommissioned in 2105, when they will be safe to demolish.

A subsidiary of Hitachi, Horizon Nuclear Power, plans to build a new nuclear power plant at Wylfa however, and, if approved by the UK government, the new Wylfa Newydd reactor could come online in the mid-2020s.