Oldbury Power Station

Oldbury Power Station was commissioned in 1967 to generate and sell electricity, in a safe working environment.

Fuel will soon be progressively removed from the reactors and sent to Sellafield for treatment.

This defuelling is likely to take three years, after which the site begins decommissioning.

For more information, visit www.magnoxnorthsites.com/about-us/our-sites/oldbury

Click here to read Powerlines Autumn 2010 [PDF, 3.9MB], Oldbury Site's newsletter.

Site Stakeholder Group

Oldbury's Site Stakeholder Group (SSG) meets quarterly - see the calendar for details of future meetings.

SSGs are the interface between the community, the site operator, and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

They provide opportunities for

• questioning the operator, the NDA, and regulators
• reviewing, commenting on, and influencing strategies, plans, and achievements

For more information visit www.sitestakeholdergroups.org.uk/oldbury

Latest News:

Oldbury to end generation in 2012

After 44 years of safe operation, Oldbury power station will stop generating electricity in February 2012.

The proactive decision to shut down Reactor One, the only operational reactor at Oldbury, was taken after careful consideration by operators Magnox and the site owners the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), in conjunction with independent regulators the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR).

The decision was made on the grounds that further operation of one of the world’s oldest nuclear reactors is no longer economically viable.

Phil Sprague, Oldbury Site Director, said: “Oldbury’s excellent generation history is a terrific success story, especially as the site was originally planned to close in 2008.

“As a result of excellent teamwork between Magnox and the NDA, and in conjunction with our regulators, the ONR, the site’s operational life was extended until February 2012. It is a testament to the skill and dedication of the workforce who have operated and maintained the reactors to such a high standard that it has been able to continue to generate safely.

“Oldbury has provided the UK with a vital source of power for over four decades, something that everyone who has worked at the site, past and present, should be very proud of.” Both of the site’s reactors were scheduled to close at the end of 2008, and since that time the site has generated an additional seven terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity, worth an estimated £300 million to the taxpayer. The extra generation has also saved around six million tonnes of carbon from being released into the atmosphere.

Following the end of generation the site will move through a transition period into defueling of the reactors before decommissioning begins.

Richard Waite, President, UK and Europe, at EnergySolutions, the owners of Magnox Ltd, said: “My congratulations go to Phil and his team who have worked so hard to deliver such a remarkable achievement. I am sure that when generation ends the workforce will bring the same skill and commitment to the successful and safe defueling and decommissioning of the station.”

Since its construction in the 1960s, Oldbury has starred in several television shows, including Doctor Who and Blakes 7, and even featured on Top Of The Pops when the group Slade recorded a performance for the show on the pile cap.

To date the site has generated over 130 TWh of electricity, enough to power one million homes for over 20 years.

Reactor Two at Oldbury was shut down on 30 June 2011, in line with its agreed operating limits.

Oldbury Site Wins IOSH Award

Oldbury Site has won IOSH’s Best Achievement in a Utility and Offshore award, recognising the site’s glazing survey, completed earlier this year.

The reactor buildings and the turbine hall are externally clad with steel and glazed panels. Owing to its exposed location, the site can experience high winds, and, on one such occasion, several of the glazed panels failed which resulted in failing glass.

A project was devised to survey all existing glazing panels and then refix, add extra fixings, or replace as necessary to ensure the long-term safety of all personnel on-site.

Before the work got underway, expectations for safe working were clearly established, and early training requirements of key risk areas were identified. Early review of method statements and risk assessments helped ensure effective control measures were implemented, particularly the rescue plan for the cradle work. All the scaffolding designs were assessed early on in the project, ensuring the safety of the glazers, and some scaffolding was also erected to provide protection for the plant below.

In all, 4000 glazed panels were secured, 663 glazed panels were replaced, and 3400 safety-mesh were installed. The project was completed five months early and the work will ensure the integrity of the glazing for 10 to 15 years.

Alison Chapman, EHSS&Q Manager said, “The judges praised the work, commenting that it was a blueprint for how all projects should be set up, implemented and managed safely. As with any work being carried out on site, safety is our number one priority and this award recognises the excellent preparation and considerations made before setting to work.”

Power Station Support Safe Route For Local School

Oldbury Power Station has given financial support to help Tortworth Primary School improve their “safe route to school” initiative.

The Oldbury Socio Economic sub group donated £1,250 to help them install a safer route to school, by means of using part of the current adventure playground, and creating a new footpath.

The school is on the busy B4509 and as such children are unable to walk or cycle to school. Currently parents/carers drop off their children in the main car park, and they have to walk 50 meters down the main driveway to the school gates, encountering traffic and delivery vehicles attending the school. The new path will make getting to school much safer.

Carol Bowes, Headteacher said: “This footpath will run alongside the current driveway and will provide an enclosed area which will bring children directly to the school gates. It will also be used by parents/carers of the Little Acorns Pre School, the Log Cabin After School Club and other visitors to the school. We are most grateful for the funding support the school received, which boosted our funds to be able to carry on with the initiative.”

Oldbury Is The Bee’s Knees!

The atmosphere at Oldbury Power Station is buzzing – thanks to the introduction of 180,000 new bees.

An apiary (also known as a bee yard) has been built in the orchard area of the site’s popular nature trail, housing three bee hives which are each home to 60,000 honey bees.

Introduced as part of the site’s Biodiversity Action Plan, the hives have made an interesting addition to the established nature trail and existing varied wildlife around the station.

Signs have been put up to let walkers know that the bees are now in residence at Oldbury, and the apiary is fenced off to prevent dogs, badgers and other wildlife from disturbing them. Paul Burrowson, a Safety Engineer at Oldbury, is already an experienced bee-keeper and will be keeping an eye on the honey bees.

Paul said: “I am an experienced bee keeper and have a keen interest in this project. It has been great to bring one of my hobbies to the workplace and I hope this project will be a success.”

Oldbury has its own 7.5km nature trail which links with the Severn Way public footpath, attracting many visitors each year and providing a natural habitat for a wide range of birds and other wildlife.

Matthew Castle, Head of Environment at Oldbury Power Station said: “Over the past few years we have been constantly striving to improve the diversity of species found around the site. “We have worked hard to maintain and improve the habitats we have which include orchards, ponds, silt lagoons and hedgerows and we are pleased that our hard work is paying off.”

Oldbury Powers On Into 2012!

Oldbury Power Station will continue to generate electricity into 2012.

Oldbury, near Bristol, which is owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), was originally scheduled to close at the end 2008, and has successfully extended its operating life on two occasions, and now has the opportunity to continue producing electricity for a further final period, following a review with the site’s regulators.

It means that Reactor 1 at Oldbury could generate electricity until the end of 2012, using up all the available fuel produced for the site. Reactor 2 is due to cease generation on June 30 this year, in line with current plans.

The site is operated by Magnox Ltd and, over the last 12 months, has been planning for the prospect of further generation, undertaking work to support the period of extended generation including an evaluation of the Periodic Safety Review – the key document used by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) to check the safety of the site.

Phil Sprague, Oldbury Site Director, said: “As a result of excellent operation and maintenance by our experienced staff the plant and equipment are in very good condition.

“We have worked hard with each of our regulators and they have no objection to extended generation. We are pleased that this work has been successful and that we will continue to contribute to the country’s electricity supply as we have done for the last 43 years.”

Brian Burnett, the NDA’s Programme Director, said: "Oldbury's continued generation is good news as it ensures further benefit from one of the NDA's valuable assets. The income generated over the extension period will support our clean-up mission, including decommissioning at other Magnox sites. I would like to thank Magnox for all the work they have done to help make this happen."

Regulators overseeing other aspects of the site’s work include the Environment Agency and the Office for Civil Nuclear Security and each of these has been involved in this programme of work.

Oldbury Drives Road Safety In The Forest

Oldbury Power Station has donated £1,000 to Forest of Dean based ‘Time and Place’ to help make roads safer. With the help of Oldbury’s socio economic fund, the group received a much needed boost to funds to enable them to carry on with their road safety campaign in Gloucestershire schools.

A desire to change the driving culture of young people led local driving instructors to create Time and Place over five years ago. They are a group dedicated to communicating a different attitude to driving to 15 – 18 year olds. To date the group have carried out over 200 presentations to youth clubs and schools, delivering an emotional and hard hitting message to youngsters, particularly those learning to drive.

Jimmy Martin, from Time and Place said: “We were delighted to hear the news that our Socio Economic application was successful. After every presentation our evaluations forms show that we are making a difference. The statistics tell their own story, if we are to continue to make a difference, we need to keep the message alive and communicate to younger children before they learn to drive.”

For groups/organisations interested in socio economic funding from Oldbury Power Station, please contact Eirian on 01454 893836 for further details and an application form.

Take A Look Behind The Scenes At Oldbury

If you’ve ever wondered what goes on inside a nuclear power station, now’s your chance to find out!

Oldbury Power Station now has a host of 360 degree virtual tours of the plant live on its website.

The site’s visitor centre closed its doors to the public in 2006 but now everyone has the chance to see what the turbine hall looks like, what happens on the pile cap and just how many buttons there are in the control room!

It is hoped by offering a photographic virtual tour of the site, with descriptions of what processes go on in each area, that people will understand more about what goes on at the station. Oldbury invited a local photographer to take pictures of several areas in and around the station which have been stitched together to form 360 degree images.

Over the years Oldbury has had a fantastic relationship with local residents and businesses, and has welcomed thousands of visitors to the site. Politicians have dropped in and pop stars have recorded performances for Top of the Pops in one of the reactors. The reactor charge face was once the board for the Monopoly World Championships, and in 1976, the station was even a backdrop for the Doctor Who episode ‘The Hand of Fear’.

The 360 degree images can be found on the Oldbury page of the Magnox North Website, at www.magnoxnorthsites.com/oldbury. Interactive DVDs containing the Oldbury Power Station virtual tour will be available soon. To obtain a DVD, please contact Sarah Lang in the Communication Department at Oldbury Power Station on 01454 893837 or .

History of Oldbury

Oldbury Power Station was officially declared as being commissioned in 1968.

Building at the site began in 1961 and Oldbury was publicly opened by the former Labour MP Tony Benn on 10 June 1969, in his capacity as Secretary of State for Industry.

Oldbury’s reactor one first went critical on 18 September 1967 and on 9 November 1967 reactor one and turbine one generated the first spark of electricity.

On a typical day the station can produce enough electricity to serve the combined populations of Bristol and Bath.

Site Director Joe Lamonby said: “Oldbury is now the longest serving nuclear power station in the country and has generated over 118 terawatt hours of electricity.

“The site has endeavoured to be a good neighbour to the local community – we have never had a nuclear safety event and are confident the station will continue to provide electricity safely until our planned closure date.

“Over the years the site has helped to support hundreds of community projects and we hope the fantastic relations we have with local residents and businesses alike will continue for many more years to come.”

The site has welcomed a host of famous visitors, including the pop band Slade who recorded a performance for Top Of The Pops inside one of Oldbury’s reactors.

And in 1976 Tom Baker visited the site as Doctor Who when the reactors formed the backdrop for ‘The Hand Of Fear’ episode. The instalment will be remembered by fans as the last time the Doctor’s trusty assistant Sarah (played by Elisabeth Sladen) featured.

So successful was the filming that the BBC’s other sci-fi programme, Blakes 7, also used the site as a set.

Oldbury first featured in an episode filmed in 1977 called ‘Time Squad’ playing the role of The Federation Transceiver Complex. In 1978 the site fulfilled the role of Spaceworld in the ‘Redemption’ episode and was Q Base in the episode called ‘Killer’.

In addition the reactor charge face has been the board for the world Monopoly championship in 1977, and the site welcomed thousands of less well known visitors when it opened its doors for tours of the site.

Contact Us

If you would like to know more about activities at Oldbury Power Station please contact Zoe Young, Communications, Oldbury Power Station on 01454 893322 or via email:

Oldbury Power Station, Oldbury Naite, Thornbury, South Glos BS35 1RQ
Tel: +44 (0)1454 893540
Fax: +44 (0)1454 8937244