Hunterston B power station
Hunterston B is a nuclear power station on the west coast of Scotland.
Over its generating life Hunterston B produced 297.4TWh of zero-carbon electricity
Enough to power all of Scotland’s homes for 29 years
Avoiding 101.5m tonnes of CO2 emissions*
Like taking every car off Scotland's roads for more than 20 years
*when compared to direct emissions of combined cycle gas turbines | all figures rounded to the nearest hundred thousand
Decommissioning Proposals at Hunterston B
Hunterston B stopped generating electricity in January 2022 after 46 years of service. At the moment EDF is removing the used fuel from the reactors in preparation for the decommissioning of the nuclear power station.
Decommissioning will involve dismantling and demolition of plant and buildings on the Hunterston B site and will be carried out by Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS), which is part of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
The first phase of decommissioning, the Preparations for Quiescence phase is anticipated to start at the end of defueling in 2025 (with formal handover of the site to NRS expected in 2026). This first phase will involve the removal of all buildings and plant from the site, with the exception of the reactor buildings and some adjoining structures which will be modified to create a Safestore structure. This Safestore is designed to maintain the reactor buildings in a safe state through the Quiescence phase of around 70 years. Following this, the Final Site Clearance phase will involve the removal of the reactors and debris vaults housed in the Safestore structure, making the site available for future use. Whilst future uses of the site will not be achieved for many decades, our proposals are a stepped approach to dismantling and decontamination towards an end state. This allows for safe radioactive decay, prior to Final Site Clearance.
Permission is needed from the independent industry regulator, the ONR, to carry out decommissioning once defueling has been completed. EDF was granted consent in August 2024 following a comprehensive application and determination processing including three rounds of public consultation, two carried out by EDF and one by the ONR. Hunterston B is the first EDF site to go through this process and the first full consent application in the UK for nearly a decade. This significant milestone paves the way for the safe and efficient decommissioning at Hunterston B. You can read more about the ONR’s decision on its website.
Hunterston B Environmental Management Plan
In December 2023 EDF Energy Nuclear Generation Limited (EDF) applied for consent to decommission Hunterston B Nuclear Power Station, under the Nuclear Reactors (Environmental Impact Assessment for Decommissioning) Regulations 1999 (as amended) (EIADR).
Consent was granted by the Office for Nuclear Regulation in August 2024 subject to 6 conditions. In compliance with condition 2, an Environmental Management Plan was prepared to provide information relating to environmental risks and mitigations anticipated during the project.
This document is the first issue of the Hunterston B Environmental Management Plan which will be updated annually and sent to the ONR in compliance with condition 5 of the consent. This document provides detail of the mitigation measures available to Hunterston B to prevent, reduce and offset any significant adverse environmental effects of the decommissioning work, where possible. This plan also provides an update on how these measures have been and will be implemented on site during decommissioning activities.
About Hunterston B
- Station Director: Andy Dalling
- Total supply to the national grid: 965MW
- Reactor type: 2 Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors
- Coolant: Carbon dioxide gas (CO2)
- Start of construction: 1968
- Start of generation: 1976
- Start of defueling: 2022
- Fuel free: 2025
- People: Approximately 350 full time EDF employees and approximately 160 full time contract partners
Hunterston news
£1.2billion investment across 2026-28 to help boost reliability and output
Fun in the sun for Hunterston B families
Fuel free at Hunterston B as UK’s first Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor nuclear station completes defueling
Graphite in nuclear power
At Hunterston B we have been conducting the most extensive investigation programme ever undertaken on the graphite core of our reactors.
Find out more about the role of graphite in our reactors, and the results of our inspections.
Contact Hunterston
Address:
EDF Hunterston B power station
West Kilbride
Ayrshire KA23 9QX
Reception:
+44 (0)1294 826000
Media requests:
Fiona McCall
fiona.mccall@edf-energy.com
07813 232 347
Community requests:
Nikki Thomson
nikki.thomson@edf-energy.com
+44 (0)1294 826157
Community
EDF and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority hold regular joint meetings (Site Stakeholder Group or SSG) with local people, the media, council and emergency services representatives and local politicians to maintain regular communications about the nuclear site. This meeting is independently chaired. Read the latest community report.
Safety and reporting
Our number one priority is safety. Find out about our commitment to Zero Harm.
How we generate our power
As Britain's biggest generator of zero carbon electricity(1) we generate power from wind + nuclear + solar.
Careers at EDF
Interested in working at EDF? Find out about our graduate programmes, apprenticeships, internships and current vacancies.