Dungeness nuclear power plant A2
Dungeness nuclear power plant A2 is a gas-cooled reactor unit at Dungeness nuclear power plant in United Kingdom rated at 230 MW gross. It is retired. Commercial operation began 30 Dec 1965.
| Reactor type | Gas-cooled reactor (GCR) |
|---|---|
| Model | MAGNOX |
| Size | Small300 MWe or less |
| Coolant | Carbon dioxide |
| Moderator | Graphite |
| Gross capacity | 230MW |
| Net capacity (reference) | 225MW |
| Net capacity (design) | 275MW |
| Thermal output | 840MWt |
| NSSS vendor | not on record |
| Typical enrichment | Natural uranium to 2.5–3.5% U-235 |
| Site | Dungeness nuclear power plant |
|---|---|
| Unit | A2 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Owner | Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (United Kingdom)100% |
| Operator | Magnox |
| Coordinates | 50.9139, 0.9620 |
This unit runs on natural uranium, so its fuel chain has no enrichment step at all: mine → mill → conversion → fabrication. That is the shortest fuel chain of any commercial reactor type, and it makes the operator independent of the four organisations that control enrichment worldwide.
Timeline
- 1 Jul 1960Construction start
- 1 Sep 1965First criticality
- 1 Nov 1965Grid connection
- 30 Dec 1965Commercial operation
- 31 Dec 2006Permanent shutdown
Other units at Dungeness nuclear power plant
| Unit | Status | Gross MW |
|---|---|---|
| Dungeness nuclear power plant A1 | Retired | 230 |
| Dungeness nuclear power plant B1 | Retired | 615 |
| Dungeness nuclear power plant B2 | Retired | 615 |
| Dungeness nuclear power plant C | Cancelled | 1,650 |
Other MAGNOX units
30 units worldwide share this model designation.
| Unit | Country | Status | Gross MW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nyongbyon nuclear power plant 1 | North Korea | 5 | |
| Berkeley nuclear power plant 1 | United Kingdom | Retired | 166 |
| Berkeley nuclear power plant 2 | United Kingdom | Retired | 166 |
| Bradwell nuclear power plant 1 | United Kingdom | Retired | 146 |
| Bradwell nuclear power plant 2 | United Kingdom | Retired | 146 |
| Calder Hall nuclear power plant 1 | United Kingdom | Retired | 60 |
| Calder Hall nuclear power plant 2 | United Kingdom | Retired | 60 |
| Calder Hall nuclear power plant 3 | United Kingdom | Retired | 60 |
| Calder Hall nuclear power plant 4 | United Kingdom | Retired | 60 |
| Chapelcross nuclear power plant 1 | United Kingdom | Retired | 60 |
| Chapelcross nuclear power plant 2 | United Kingdom | Retired | 60 |
| Chapelcross nuclear power plant 3 | United Kingdom | Retired | 60 |
Sources
- Global Nuclear Power Tracker, Global Energy Monitor, August 2026 release , CC BY 4.0 · retrieved 2026-09-06 · this unit last researched by GEM on 2024-05-17
- GEM.wiki entry (further reading) , CC BY-SA 4.0, linked, not quoted
How these sources are used, including the corrections applied on top of them and what is deliberately left blank · download the underlying data