After 44 years of safe operation, Magnox's Oldbury power station - the world's oldest operating nuclear power station - ceased generation at 11am on 29 February 2012.
To-date, the site has generated over 137.5 TWh of electricity, enough to power one million homes for over 20 years (one TWh is a billion units of electricity)!
In November 2011, the proactive decision to shut down Reactor One was taken after careful consideration by operators Magnox, EnergySolutions - the owners of Magnox Ltd, and the site owners the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). The decision was made on the grounds that further operation of one of the world's oldest nuclear reactors is no longer economically viable.
Originally, Oldbury was due to shutdown in 2008. Since the scheduled closure date, the plant has generated an additional 7.4TWhrs of electricity, worth an estimated £350 million to the taxpayer and saving around 3.5M tonnes of carbon from being released into the atmosphere.
Phil Sprague, Oldbury Site Director, said: "Oldbury has been a terrific success story for the UK nuclear industry. We have generated safe, carbon free electricity for 44 years which is a remarkable achievement when you consider that the original plant design life was just 25 years.
"The plant has had a number of enhancements over the years, however continued generation is largely down to the excellence of the staff that have operated the plant for those 44 years. This fantastic record is one that all staff both past and present, can rightly be proud. Today marks a safe and dignified end to the generation of electricity at Oldbury.
"Our main focus for the coming months is to prepare our staff and the plant for the defueling of the reactors, whilst continuing to maintain the very high standards for safety that we have created here. On-going support for our staff as we make these changes will be key for the rest of this year."
29 окт 2024