Trawsfynydd nuclear power station
Encyclopedia
Trawsfyndd nuclear power station is a disused Magnox
power station
situated at Trawsfynydd
in Gwynedd
, Wales
.
, International Combustion
, Fairey Engineering and Richardsons Westgarth
, and known as the Atomic Power Constructions ('APC'), began in July 1959, and both of the two reactors were in operation by March 1965, with the station opening fully in October 1968, at a cost of £103 million. It had two Magnox
reactors producing 470 megawatts
(MW) in total. The reactors were supplied by APC and the turbines by Richardsons Westgarth. The civil engineering work was undertaken by Holland Hannen & Cubitts and Trollope & Colls
. The architectural consultant for the buildings was Sir Basil Spence
and the landscape architect was Sylvia Crowe
.
Both have been shut down since 1991; the site is in the process of being decommissioned
by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
.
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...
power station
Power station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
situated at Trawsfynydd
Trawsfynydd
Trawsfynydd is a village in Gwynedd, North Wales, adjacent to the A470 north of Dolgellau near Blaenau Ffestiniog....
in Gwynedd
Gwynedd
Gwynedd is a county in north-west Wales, named after the old Kingdom of Gwynedd. Although the second biggest in terms of geographical area, it is also one of the most sparsely populated...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
.
History
Construction of the power station, which was undertaken by a consortium involving Crompton ParkinsonCrompton Parkinson
Crompton Parkinson was a British electrical manufacturing company formed in 1927 by the merger of Crompton & Co., and F & A. Parkinson Ltd.Crompton & Co. was a lamp manufacturer founded by Colonel Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton in 1878 and had designed and installed electric lighting installations at...
, International Combustion
International Combustion
International Combustion Limited was a major manufacturing business based in Derby offering products for the nuclear engineering industry. International Combustion Australia Limited was a separate non-affiliated company.-History:...
, Fairey Engineering and Richardsons Westgarth
Richardsons Westgarth & Company
Richardsons Westgarth & Company was a leading British shipbuilding and marine engineering business. The Company was based in Hartlepool and was a major employer in the area.-History:...
, and known as the Atomic Power Constructions ('APC'), began in July 1959, and both of the two reactors were in operation by March 1965, with the station opening fully in October 1968, at a cost of £103 million. 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 470 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:...
(MW) in total. The reactors were supplied by APC and the turbines by Richardsons Westgarth. The civil engineering work was undertaken by Holland Hannen & Cubitts and Trollope & Colls
Trollope & Colls
Trollope & Colls was once one of the United Kingdom's largest construction companies.-History:The Company was formed out of the merger of George Trollope & Sons and Colls & Sons .The merged firm started to specialise in civil engineering and during World War...
. The architectural consultant for the buildings was Sir Basil Spence
Basil Spence
Sir Basil Urwin Spence, OM, OBE, RA was a Scottish architect, most notably associated with Coventry Cathedral in England and the Beehive in New Zealand, but also responsible for numerous other buildings in the Modernist/Brutalist style.-Training:Spence was born in Bombay, India, the son of Urwin...
and the landscape architect was Sylvia Crowe
Sylvia Crowe
Dame Sylvia Crowe, DBE was a British landscape architect and garden designer.Born in Sussex, and trained under Madeline Agar at Swanley College .She was President of the Institute of Landscape Architects from 1957 to 1959...
.
Both have been shut down since 1991; the site is in the process of being decommissioned
Nuclear decommissioning
Nuclear decommissioning is the dismantling of a nuclear power plant and decontamination of the site to a state no longer requiring protection from radiation for the general public...
by 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...
.
See also
- Energy policy of the United KingdomEnergy policy of the United KingdomThe 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...
- Nuclear power in the United KingdomNuclear power in the United KingdomNuclear 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 use and conservation in the United KingdomEnergy use and conservation in the United KingdomEnergy 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...