Heysham 1

About Heysham 1

Heysham 1 is a nuclear power station on the north west coast of England near Lancaster. Heysham is the only site in the UK to have two operating nuclear power stations.

Station Director: Richard Bradfield
Reactor type: 2 Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors
Total supply to the national grid: 1155 MW
Coolant: Carbon dioxide gas (CO2)
Start of construction: 1970
Start of generation: 1983
Estimated end of generation: 2024
People: Approximately 530 full time EDF Energy employees plus over 200 full time contract partners

Power Stations - Heysham 1 and 2

Heysham 1 and Heysham 2 are nuclear power stations on the north west coast of England near Lancaster. Heysham is the only site in the UK to have two operating nuclear power stations.

Reactor 1

Turbine Generator 1

In service

493MW

Status

Nominal full load

Next statutory outage

Apr-2020

Reactor 2

Turbine Generator 2

In service

514MW

Status

At reduced load to manage fuel temperatures

Next statutory outage

Jul-2021

Notes

Nominal full load refers to the nominal maximum generation in megawatts from a reactor. The output from a reactor can fluctuate even when at full load for many reasons (e.g. plant conditions, sea water temperatures, operating limits/constraints etc). Where the output of a reactor is reduced by approximately 10% or more of its maximum, the reason for this will be shown. Generation figures are net of any imports into the station and may be negative when a unit is not generating.

Return to service dates are provided to the same accuracy as provided to National Grid under the requirements of the Grid Code and refer to the first full day of operation. Where a return to service date falls within approximately two weeks of the date of this report, the exact date will be shown. Where a return to service date is expected to fall more than two weeks into the future, the week commencing in which a reactor is due to return to service will be indicated (shown as “w/c”).

Additional information on the availability of our nuclear power stations can be found on our REMIT page.

Community

EDF Energy hold regular meetings (Local Community Liaison Council or LCLC) with local people, the media, council and emergency services representatives and local politicians to maintain regular communications about the nuclear site. Members of the public are invited to observe the meeting and questions will be taken at the end of session.

The next LCLC is provisionally booked for Friday 2 November. Location and timings to be confirmed nearer to the date.

Read our latest community report (PDF)

Visit us

Drop into our visitor centre or book a station tour to see for yourself how we generate electricity in a nuclear power station.

Our visitor centre has an interactive exhibition where you can find out more about nuclear power generation. We also offer pre-booked tours of the power station and it's all free of charge.

Find out more about tours

Latest news

Austin Friars school were the 30,000th visitors at Heysham's Visitor Centre in May 2018

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

30,000th visitor at Heysham Visitor Centre

PUPILS from Austin Friars School, Carlisle, were treated to cake and Zingy goodies as they became the 30,000th people through the doors of Heysham power stations’ Visitor Centre.