§ Mr. BakerTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will list for each operating nuclear power station in Britain (i) its year of construction, (ii) the year it began supplying electricity to the national grid, (iii) its anticipated decommissioning date at year of construction, (iv) its actual decommissioning date, if now decommissioned and (v) its expected decommissioning date at the present time. [4638]
§ Mr. Battle[holding answer 20 June 1997]: Dates for the start of construction, first commercial operation and date of shutdown, where applicable, for nuclear power stations operating in Britain are given in the 1997 World Nuclear Industry Handbook extracts of which are reproduced in the following table.
Nuclear stations are subject to constant review by the regulatory authorities through a closely monitored licencing system, which ensures that the companies owning these power stations can only operate them for as long as it is safe to do so. Anticipated lifetimes when these stations were first built were based on the technological and economic estimates made at that time and typically ranged between 20 and 30 years.
The decommissioning of nuclear power stations is undertaken by agreement with the regulatory authorities, the Nuclear Industries Inspectorate and the Environment Agency, to ensure that environmental, safety and economic concerns are fully taken into account.
454W
Station Construction began Commercial operation Shutdown Dungeness B1 1966 1985 — Dungeness B2 1966 1988 — Hartlepool 1 1968 1984 — Hartlepool 2 1968 1985 — Heysham 1–1 1970 1984 — Heysham 1–2 1970 1985 — Heysham 2–1 1980 1988 — Heysham 2–2 1980 1989 — Hinkley Point B3 1967 1978 — Hinkley Point B4 1967 1976 — Hunterston B1 1967 1976 — Hunterston B2 1967 1977 — Torness 1 1980 1988 — Torness 2 1980 1989 — Bradwell 1 1957 1962 — Bradwell 2 1957 1962 — Calder Hall 1 1953 1956 — Calder Hall 2 1953 1957 — Calder Hall 3 1953 1958 — Calder Hall 4 1953 1959 — Chalpelcross 1 1956 1959 — Chalpelcross 2 1956 1959 — Chalpelcross 3 1956 1960 — Chalpelcross 4 1956 1960 — Dungeness A1 1960 1965 — Dungeness A2 1960 1965 — Hinkley Point A1 1957 1965 —
Station Construction began Commercial Operation Shutdown Hinkley Point A2 1957 1965 — Oldbury 1 1962 1968 — Oldbury 2 1962 1968 — Sizewell A1 1961 1966 — Sizewell A2 1961 1966 — Wylfa A1 1963 1971 — Wylfa A2 1963 1972 — Sizewell B 1988 1995 — Windscale AGR 1958 1983 1981 Dounreay DRF 1966 1962 1977 Dounreay PFR 1967 1976 1994 Winfrith Dragon n/a n/a 1976 Berkeley 1 1957 1962 1989 Berkeley 2 1957 1962 1988 Hunterston A1 1957 1964 1990 Hunterston A2 1957 1964 1989 Trawsfyndd 1 1959 1965 1993 Trawsfyndd 2 1959 1965 1993 Winfrith SGHWR 1963 1968 1990