The UK’s Hunterston B NPP in North Ayrshire, Scotland, has transferred ownership from EDF to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) to be decommissioned by NDA subsidiary Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS). Hunterston B stopped generating in January 2022.
Over the next two decades, the NDA’s mission will expand to include the decommissioning of all seven advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR) power stations. Hunterston B is the first site to transfer with Hinkley Point B in Somerset due to transfer later in 2026.
NRS has assumed responsibility as site licensee for Hunterston B after approval from the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR). Having operated for 46 years, Hunterston stopped generating and was taken offline in 2022. Both reactors have since been defueled – a key stage overseen by ONR – and the site now enters its next phase.
The decision to grant NRS the site licence follows a rigorous assessment by ONR’s specialist inspectors, who are satisfied that NRS has demonstrated the necessary capability and competence to hold the licence.
The arrangement was agreed in June 2021, when EDF signed a contract with the UK Government to defuel all seven AGR stations across the UK before their transfer to the NDA. EDF’s Decommissioning Director, Paul Morton, said: “Hunterston B has been an integral part of the EDF family. It is a fantastic site and while we will miss the station and its people, we know they are entering an exciting new chapter in their story, and we are looking forward to seeing them successfully delivering decommissioning.”
Hunterston B has contributed more than £13.3bn ($17.5bn) to the UK economy and has been a source of well-paid, skilled jobs in North Ayrshire for more than 50 years. This will continue with 246 people transferring from EDF to NRS to carry out decommissioning.
Defueling was delivered on time and to budget using funds from the Nuclear Liabilities Fund (NLF), a ring-fenced £20.7bn fund set up in 1996 specifically to pay for the decommissioning of the current nuclear fleet.
NLF CEO Melissa Hope said this marks the start of the next stage of the important work of decommissioning. The NLF funding model provides certainty that funds are now available to support safe and secure site remediation,” she said.
EDF owns and operates seven NPPs in the UK. Two have ended generation (Hinkley Point B and Dungeness B) and five are generating (Torness, Hartlepool, Heysham 1, Heysham 2 and Sizewell B). Six of the stations are AGRs and Sizewell B is a Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR).
The Nuclear Liabilities Fund is made up of operational contributions from EDF, money from the sale of British Energy to EDF, investment returns and money from the UK Government.
