Calder Hall nuclear power station

Calder Hall Nuclear Power Station
Calder Hall nuclear power station, after opening
Country	England
Location	Seascale
Coordinates	54°25′07″N 03°29′29″W / 54.41861°N 3.49139°W / 54.41861; -3.49139
Status	in decommissioning
Construction began	1953
Commission date	1956
Decommission date	2003
Owner(s)	Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
Operator(s)	Sellafield Ltd
Thermal power station
Primary fuel	Nuclear
Cooling towers	4 (demolished 2007)
Power generation
Units operational	4 x 60 MWe (1956–2003)
Make and model	C.A. Parsons & Company UKAEA
Nameplate capacity	240 MWe
Capacity factor	79%
Annual net output	360 GWh
External links
Commons	Related media on Commons
[edit on Wikidata] grid reference NY034036

Calder Hall Nuclear Power Station is a former Magnox nuclear power station at Sellafield in Cumbria in North West England. Calder Hall was the world's first full-scale commercial nuclear power station to enter operation,^[1] and was the sister plant to the Chapelcross plant in Scotland.^[2] Both were commissioned and originally operated by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. The primary purpose of both plants was to produce weapons-grade plutonium for the UK's nuclear weapons programme, but they also generated electrical power for the National Grid.

Decommissioning by Sellafield Ltd started in 2005. The site is partially demolished and is expected that only the reactor cores and associated radiation shielding will remain by 2027, when it will enter a period of extended care and maintenance using the "safestore" principle, before final demolition.