Hartlepool nuclear power station

After building the first operational advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR) nuclear power station at Dungeness, the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) proposed their third AGR station in 1967 to be situated on the edge of the Durham coalfield, near the seaside resort of Seaton Carew. The proposal came at a time when the CEGB's move toward fuels alternative to coal threatened the coal industry's existence. Despite this, and a short ministerial delay, the plans for the Seaton Carew station (which became known as Hartlepool nuclear power station) went ahead. Because the construction of the station was given the go ahead, the National Coal Board were not able to get the CEGB behind the plans for a prototype fluidised bed combustion (FBC) coal station at Grimethorpe in Yorkshire. Because of this, the UK did not build FBC technology.{{cite web |url=http://waltpatterson.org/goingcritical.pdf |title=Going Critical: An Unofficial History of British Nuclear Power |first=Walter C |last=Patterson |year=1985 |work=Friends of the Earth |publisher=Paladin Books |pages=19–22 |access-date=18 August 2010}}

Sited {{convert|1.65|mi|abbr=on}} from Seaton Carew, and in the middle of the industrial complex of Teesside, the station was to be built closer to any major urban area than any nuclear power station site had been. To make this acceptable, the station's reactors were to be housed in pressure vessels made from prestressed concrete.

File:Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station under construction - geograph.org.uk - 4736256.jpg

The construction of the power station which was undertaken by Nuclear Design & Construction ('NDC'), a consortium backed by English Electric, Babcock International Group and Taylor Woodrow Construction,{{Cite web |url=http://www.dalton.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/reports/papers/uk_consortia1b.pdf |title=The UK Magnox and AGR Power Station Projects |access-date=19 September 2010 |archive-date=27 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200427135549/http://www.dalton.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/reports/papers/uk_consortia1b.pdf |url-status=dead }}

began in 1969.

Construction was delayed in 1970, when the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate declared that they were unhappy with part of the station's boiler design, setting the CEGB back £25{{nbsp}}million. The station's reactors were supplied by the National Nuclear Corporation, and its generating sets by the General Electric Company.{{cite web |url=http://www.industcards.com/nuclear-uk.htm |title=Nuclear Power Plants in the UK – England |date=8 March 2009 |work=Power Plants Around the World |access-date=22 August 2010 |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090719150823/http://www.industcards.com/nuclear%2Duk.htm |archive-date=19 July 2009 |url-status=usurped }}

The first of the station's two units were commissioned in 1983, the other in 1985.

The station first generated electricity commercially on 1 August 1983.{{cite web|url=http://www.british-energy.co.uk/pagetemplate.php?pid=94 |title=Hartlepool |work=British Energy |format=PHP |access-date=22 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719051037/http://www.british-energy.co.uk/pagetemplate.php?pid=94 |archive-date=19 July 2011 }}

Nuclear fuel for Hartlepool power station is delivered and removed via a loading/unloading facility on a {{convert|1.5|mi|adj=on}} branch from the Durham Coast Line.{{Cite book|title=Railway Track Diagrams Book 2: Eastern|last=Brailsford|first=Martyn|publisher=Trackmaps|year=2016|isbn=9780954986681|location=Frome|pages=45A}}

{{clear |left}}

In the 1980s, there was an interactive visitor centre on site. There was also an activity centre for school visits which hosted a number of special events. Tours of the power station itself also took place. The centre was closed after privatisation in the 1990s, but a new visitor centre was opened by current operators EDF Energy in 2013.{{cite web | url=https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/local/teesside/10786591.new-visitor-centre-opened-hartlepool-nuclear-power-station-gains-permission-extend-life-another-five-years/ | title=New visitor centre opened as Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station gains permission to extend its life by another five years }}

This centre also hosts 'Crucial Crew' events for school pupils in the local areas.{{Cite web|last=Turner|first=Ed|title=Annual child safety initiative enters 23rd year|url=https://www.hartlepool.gov.uk/news/article/1392/annual_child_safety_initiative_enters_23rd_year|access-date=2022-01-05|website=hartlepool.gov.uk}} These experiences teach children about health and safety.

At 19:18 on 20 April 2013, a small fire broke out in the turbine hall of Unit 2 at the power station while Reactor 2 was being brought back online. The fire was caused by an oil leak, and ignited lagging surrounding part of the turbine. Reactor 2 was shut down and cooled, mitigating any threat of nuclear contamination. Emergency services attended the fire from stations across the Cleveland area and the fire was extinguished at 19:53. During the incident, fire cover in the Cleveland area was provided by units from Darlington and County Durham.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-22238394|title=BBC News – Hartlepool Power Station fire: Probe after oil leak in turbine tackle|work=BBC Online|access-date=21 April 2013|date=21 April 2013}}

The station is of the advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR) type. It provides electricity for over 3% of the UK using two 1,575{{nbsp}}MWth advanced gas-cooled reactors to power two generators (590{{nbsp}}MW_e + 595{{nbsp}}MW_e), giving a maximum generating capacity of 1,320{{nbsp}}MW. The station's designed net electrical output is 1,185{{nbsp}}MW. This is enough electricity to power 1.5{{nbsp}}million homes. There are four 17.5{{nbsp}}MW auxiliary gas turbines on the site, these had first been commissioned in October 1973.{{Cite book|title=Handbook of Electricity Supply Statistics 1989|publisher=The Electricity Council|year=1990|isbn=085188122X|location=London|pages=8}}

The power station was originally expected to shut down in 2009, but was given permission by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) for an extension of five years in 2007, meaning that it could continue to generate until 2014.

In 2010, the lifetime was further extended by another five years, so that generation could continue until 2019.

The company then began work to extend station lifetime to 2024 and beyond,{{cite web |title=Building the Power Station |first=Andrew |last=Payne |work=This is Hartlepool |url=http://www.thisishartlepool.co.uk/buildingthepowerstation |access-date=8 August 2008}}{{cite web |url=http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/newsarticle.aspx?id=28980 |title=Consent for longer operation |access-date=20 January 2011 |date=17 December 2010 |work=World Nuclear News |publisher=World Nuclear News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401103828/http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/newsarticle.aspx?id=28980 |archive-date=1 April 2012 |url-status=dead }} and an announcement was made in November 2013 that the plant would have a further extension to its operating life of 5 years taking the expected decommissioning date to 2024.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-24824816 |title=Hartlepool power station to stay open until 2024 |publisher=BBC News |date=5 November 2013 |access-date=19 February 2014}}

The 2024 closure was reaffirmed in 2022.{{cite news | url = https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/EDF-confirms-earlier-end-date-for-Heysham-2-and-To | title = Heysham 2 and Torness end dates brought forward by EDF | date = 11 January 2022 | newspaper = World Nuclear News | access-date = 26 March 2022}}

An announcement was made in March 2023 that the plant would have an additional extension to its life of two years, taking the expected decommissioning date to March 2026.{{Cite news |date=2023-03-09 |title=Extended life for two UK nuclear power stations|publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64906179 |access-date=2023-03-09}} In December 2024, in response to concerns over energy security following delays to Hinkley Point C, EDF announced a further one year extension in Hartlepool production until March 2027.{{cite news | url = https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/04/four-of-uks-oldest-nuclear-plants-to-run-for-even-longer-as-hinkley-point-delayed | title = Four of UK’s oldest nuclear plants to run for even longer as Hinkley Point delayed | first1 = Jillian | last1 = Ambrose | date = 4 December 2024 | access-date = 4 December 2024}}

Closing the station would reduce the available reactive power in the local grid by 200{{nbsp}}MVAr.{{cite web |title=Pennines Pathfinder updates {{!}} National Grid ESO |url=https://www.nationalgrideso.com/future-energy/projects/pathfinders/high-voltage/Pennines |website=nationalgrideso.com |date=7 February 2022}}

In July 2008, the plant's then-operator British Energy, suggested that the site would be a good location for a replacement nuclear power station.{{cite news|title=Eight new nuclear power stations planned for England |work=The Daily Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/07/13/eanuclear113.xml |access-date=8 August 2008 |location=London |first1=Robert |last1=Winnett |date=13 July 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080806154732/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fearth%2F2008%2F07%2F13%2Feanuclear113.xml |archive-date=6 August 2008 }}

Then a year later in July 2009, the UK government named Hartlepool on a list of eleven sites in England and Wales, where new nuclear power stations could be built. On 9 November 2009, the government announced that ten of these sites, including Hartlepool, had been given the go-ahead for the construction of new reactors.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8349715.stm |publisher=BBC News |title=Go-ahead for 10 nuclear stations |date=9 November 2009 |access-date=4 May 2010}}

The proposed station would have use reactors capable of generating 1,800{{nbsp}}MW each. It would have cost between £5{{nbsp}}billion and £6{{nbsp}}billion to construct, would employ up to 3,000 construction workers for the possible eight-year construction period, as well as providing 600 full-time jobs once completed. The new station had an anticipated operating life of 60{{nbsp}}years.

The plans were opposed by environmental groups such as Friends of the Earth and Stop New Nuclear.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-13887579 |title=BBC News – New UK nuclear plant sites named|access-date=21 April 2013 | date=23 June 2011}}

{{stack|{{Portal|England|Energy|Nuclear technology}}}}

• Nuclear power in the United Kingdom
• Energy policy of the United Kingdom
• Energy use and conservation in the United Kingdom

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Hartlepool Power Station}}

• [http://econtent.unm.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/nuceng&CISOPTR=55&CISOBOX=1&REC=18 Hartlepool], Nuclear Engineering International wall chart, 1969
• [http://www.thisishartlepool.co.uk/buildingthepowerstation A selection of over a hundred images showing the building of the power station submitted by a local who worked at the site during its construction]

{{North East Power Stations}}

{{British nuclear power plants}}

Category:Buildings and structures in the Borough of Hartlepool

Category:Nuclear power stations using Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors

Category:Power stations in North East England

Category:1983 establishments in England

Category:Nuclear power stations in England

Category:Nuclear power stations with proposed reactors