Sizewell B marks 27 years of service

Sizewell B, the UK’s youngest nuclear power station, turns 27 on Valentine’s Day.

The station was connected to the grid on 14 February 1995 and has produced enough electricity since then to power every home in Suffolk for 178 years!

The station has avoided 81m tonnes of CO2 going into the atmosphere – that’s the same as taking 38million cars off roads for a year.

Sizewell B has provided long term jobs as well as electricity generation over the decades ensuring that local people have access to rewarding careers in an area they love to live.  Some of the team started work at Sizewell A before moving across to Sizewell B to progress their careers.  The nuclear industry in Suffolk has provided generations of jobs and, subject to planning permission, Sizewell C will continue that tradition alongside Sizewell B.

Robert Gunn, Sizewell B Station Director, said: “I am proud of our local team at the power station and the work they do to ensure Sizewell B continues to generate the low carbon electricity that we all depend upon.”

Case study

Danny Bailey, Maintenance Manager

Danny has been with the nuclear industry in Suffolk for 44 years.  He chose to join Sizewell A as an apprentice having been offered apprenticeships with both the power station and Garretts, manufacturers of agricultural machinery and steam engines in Leiston. 

In September 1977, Danny joined Sizewell A as a Craft Apprentice and moved across to the Sizewell B team as an Enhanced Craftsman in 1990 and has carried out a number of roles within the station and more recently as the Maintenance Manager.  Danny was born in Leiston and working locally has meant that he and his wife have been able to stay and raise a family in an area they love.  Danny will retire next month and hands over to Gavin Rousseau who joined Sizewell B as an apprentice thirty years ago Sizewell B straight from Alde Valley Academy, formerly Leiston High School, when he was 16.