Heysham nuclear power station
pair of nuclear power plants in Heysham, Lancashire, England
The Heysham nuclear power stations are operated by EDF Energy in Heysham, Lancashire, England. On the site two separate nuclear power stations, Heysham 1 and Heysham 2 operate independently, only with joint entry protocol, both with two reactors of the advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR) type.
In 2010, the British government announced that Heysham was one of the eight sites it considered suitable for future nuclear power stations.
On 1 August 2016, Heysham 2's Unit 8 broke the world record for longest continuous operation of a nuclear power reactor without a shutdown. This record-breaking run exceeds the previous record of 894 days set by Pickering Nuclear Generating Station's Unit 7 (Lake Ontario, Canada) in 1994. The reactor had generated 13.5 TWh of electricity so far during this continuous operation, taking its lifetime generation to 115.46 TWh.
Heysham 1 will operate until March 2030.
Heysham 1
Construction of Heysham 1, which was undertaken by British Nuclear Design & Construction (BNDC), a consortium backed of English Electric, Babcock & Wilcox and Taylor Woodrow Construction, began in 1970, with the first reactor commencing operations in 1983 and the second reactor following in 1984. However, initial production levels were low, and full commercial operation was only declared in 1989. It is planned to remain in operation until 2028.
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