AGR
The AGR is a Generation II gas-cooled reactor. 8 units are operating and 0 are under construction, out of 15 on record.
The Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor, Britain's successor to Magnox, running enriched uranium oxide in stainless steel cladding at gas outlet temperatures around 640 °C, the highest thermal efficiency of any commercial reactor fleet. Operated by EDF Energy. Graphite core ageing, not the fuel or the vessel, sets their retirement dates; the fleet is closing through the 2020s and 2030s.
| Vendor | built by consortium, no single vendor |
|---|---|
| Reactor type | Gas-cooled reactor (GCR) |
| Generation | II |
| Capacity range | 555–660 MWe gross |
| Coolant | Carbon dioxide |
| Typical enrichment | Natural uranium to 2.5–3.5% U-235 |
| United Kingdom | 15 units, 8 operating |
|---|
How long it took to build
Years from construction start to grid connection, for units with both dates on record. The median across 15 finished units is 9.2 years.
| Unit | Country | Started | Connected | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windscale AGR nuclear power plant | United Kingdom | 1958 | 1963 | 4.3 |
| Hinkley Point nuclear power plant B2 | United Kingdom | 1967 | 1976 | 8.4 |
| Hunterston nuclear power plant B1 | United Kingdom | 1967 | 1976 | 8.3 |
| Hinkley Point nuclear power plant B1 | United Kingdom | 1967 | 1976 | 9.2 |
| Hunterston nuclear power plant B2 | United Kingdom | 1967 | 1977 | 9.4 |
| Dungeness nuclear power plant B1 | United Kingdom | 1965 | 1983 | 17.5 |
| Heysham nuclear power plant A1 | United Kingdom | 1970 | 1983 | 12.6 |
| Hartlepool nuclear power plant A1 | United Kingdom | 1968 | 1983 | 14.8 |
| Heysham nuclear power plant A2 | United Kingdom | 1970 | 1984 | 13.9 |
| Hartlepool nuclear power plant A2 | United Kingdom | 1968 | 1984 | 16.1 |
| Dungeness nuclear power plant B2 | United Kingdom | 1965 | 1985 | 20.2 |
| Torness nuclear power plant 1 | United Kingdom | 1980 | 1988 | 7.8 |
| Heysham nuclear power plant B1 | United Kingdom | 1980 | 1988 | 7.9 |
| Heysham nuclear power plant B2 | United Kingdom | 1980 | 1988 | 8.3 |
| Torness nuclear power plant 2 | United Kingdom | 1980 | 1989 | 8.5 |
All AGR units
| Unit | Country | Status | Gross MW | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hartlepool nuclear power plant A1 | United Kingdom | 655 | 1989 | |
| Hartlepool nuclear power plant A2 | United Kingdom | 655 | 1989 | |
| Heysham nuclear power plant A1 | United Kingdom | 625 | 1989 | |
| Heysham nuclear power plant A2 | United Kingdom | 625 | 1989 | |
| Heysham nuclear power plant B1 | United Kingdom | 680 | 1989 | |
| Heysham nuclear power plant B2 | United Kingdom | 680 | 1989 | |
| Torness nuclear power plant 1 | United Kingdom | 682 | 1988 | |
| Torness nuclear power plant 2 | United Kingdom | 682 | 1989 | |
| Dungeness nuclear power plant B1 | United Kingdom | Retired | 615 | 1985 |
| Dungeness nuclear power plant B2 | United Kingdom | Retired | 615 | 1989 |
| Hinkley Point nuclear power plant B1 | United Kingdom | Retired | 655 | 1978 |
| Hinkley Point nuclear power plant B2 | United Kingdom | Retired | 655 | 1976 |
| Hunterston nuclear power plant B1 | United Kingdom | Retired | 644 | 1976 |
| Hunterston nuclear power plant B2 | United Kingdom | Retired | 644 | 1977 |
| Windscale AGR nuclear power plant | United Kingdom | Retired | 36 | 1963 |
Sources
- AGR, vendor documentation
- Global Nuclear Power Tracker, Global Energy Monitor, August 2026 release , CC BY 4.0 · retrieved 2026-09-06
How these sources are used, including the corrections applied on top of them and what is deliberately left blank · download the underlying data