This document sets out proposed arrangements that will be applied by regulators for management of the end of the GDA assessment process, focusing in particular on the GDA Confirmation and related Exclusions and subsequent design changes. Read it all..

Magnox News 9 February 2009

Magnox North Limited, formally known as Magnox Electric Limited, has been found guilty of three counts under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993 at Chelmsford Crown Court. Read it all..

Boiler Closure Unit (“BCU”) Update – Hartlepool Reactor 1 return to service

British Energy Group plc (”the Company”) is pleased to announce that Hartlepool Reactor 1 has synchronised to the National Grid, having made engineering modifications and received the necessary consent from the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (“NII”) to return the unit to service.  Read it all..

Magnox South news Thursday 23 October 2008 

Berkeley site is celebrating after achieving all its performance based incentives (PBIs) for this year, with two completed before their due date. These are annual performance targets set by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).

The PBIs have been related to its periodic safety review (PSR). The PSR is a legal requirement of the nuclear site licence which constitutes a 10 yearly review of the adequacy of the site safety case and provides justification that it is safe to operate the site for the next 10 years.

The workforce has been working extremely hard to meet the tight timescales imposed by the NDA and by our regulator the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII). The submitted PSR document contains  recommendations for physical works that will need to be undertaken on site to meet the site’s safety case. Read it all..

Richard Fidler, Graham Taylor, Bob Clayton -ASTEC Associates

During the 1980s and 90s, the nuclear industry in the UK was a firm target of the environmental lobby. Nuclear energy was seen as dirty, an opinion greatly strengthened by the events at Chernobyl. However, as the environmental and scientific communities became concerned that carbon emissions could be presenting a greater risk than any nuclear legacy, the industry is now seen as having to play a substantial role in minimising the country’s carbon footprint. Thus, the nation’s nuclear generating capacity needs to grow beyond its past peak of the 23% share of the electricity market that was reached in 1998. Read it all..

30 April 2008

Oldbury has achieved a major milestone in the site’s lifecycle, having received consent from the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) to decommission the site.

This is the second of two key permissions required for decommissioning and is the culmination of nearly three years work by staff.

As part of the process, Oldbury was required to set out the measures it will take to ensure decommissioning has a minimal impact on the local environment. Read it all..

31 August 2008

Magnox North’s Chapelcross site began the next phase in its life this week when final de-fuelling of Reactor 1 commenced.

The first fuel element was removed from the reactor core on Monday 18th August, beginning the active commissioning of the newly upgraded fuel route. Approximately 40,000 fuel elements will be systematically removed from all four reactors and dispatched for reprocessing at Sellafield Site in Cumbria. Read it all..