Defueling complete at Oldbury Unit 1

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) of the United Kingdom announced Thursday that one of the nuclear reactors at the Oldbury has been emptied of all its fuel.

The Oldbury Nuclear Power Station operated between 1968 and 2012. At the beginning of the defueling process the reactor held 25,826 fuel elements.

“This is yet another milestone in the life of the site and we will continue to press ahead to complete defueling the reactors by the end of the year," site director Mike Heaton said. "Our aim is to ship all the remaining fuel to Sellafield by the early part of next year. Everyone on site is working hard to achieve this target.”

The NDA reports that the second unit at the Oldbury plant has eliminated approximately 85 percent of its fuel elements, and the process is expected to be complete in October. All nuclear fuel is being sent to the Sellafield Nuclear Processing and Decommissioning site.

“This is an important milestone on the site’s journey towards care and maintenance and a fantastic achievement," NDA Head of Programs Brian Burnett said. "My congratulations to the Magnox team at Oldbury for making such excellent progress.”

Over the course of its operation, the nuclear reactor was operational for more than 35 years.