Articles
The energy that can be released through nuclear fission is millions of times greater than the energy released through combustion of similar masses of chemical fuels. After the first successful fission experiments in 1938, scientists soon realised that, if two or more neutrons were released by the reaction, a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction could result, with great potential for electricity generation.
During the Second World War, the UK, Canada and US collaborated on the Manhattan Project to develop atomic bombs but in 1946 the US ended the collaboration by banning the release of atomic technology to any other country.
The UK government had already made plans for its own research programme, and in 1945 had formed the Atomic Energy Research Establishment “to produce, use and dispose of atomic energy and carry out research into any matters therewith”.
The formation of the Atomic Energy Production Division was announced the following year. The programme was initially focused on developing an atomic bomb. Windscale, the first large-scale nuclear installation, was a weapons-grade plutonium production plant, and the first power station, Calder Hall, was primarily designed to produce weapons-grade plutonium, with electricity production a secondary purpose.
In 1955, Britain produced a white paper setting out the world’s first civil nuclear power programme. It was a 10-year plan which would see up to 12 twin-reactor stations built, with a total generating capacity of 1,500-2,000MW.
In 1957, the programme was trebled to 5,000-6,000MW, later reduced to 5,000MW.
This first phase of construction actually saw nine power stations built, with a total generating capacity of 4,000MW. A second wave of power stations was begun in the late 1960s, with five advanced gas-cooled reactors begun by 1970.
Although the Central Electricity Generating Board announced in 1973 that it would order 32 large pressurised water reactors within 10 years, and two years later UKAEA announced that UK nuclear capacity would grow from 5GW to 104GW by the end of the century, this expectation was never realised.
By 2000, only 13GW capacity had been installed, and only three power stations were begun after 1980. UK nuclear power production peaked in 1998, when it generated 26% of all electricity.