The Nuclear Connection

Bradwell nuclear power station provided power to people across the Maldon District, Essex and the East of England for 40 years from 1962 to 2002.

The Early Years

Construction of the power station began in December 1957 under the supervision of the Nuclear Power Plant Company (NPPC), with electricity generation starting in 1962. At the height of its operations, the plant had two Magnox reactors with a design output of 242-300 MW of net electrical output, meaning it could supply enough electricity to meet the needs of three towns the size of Chelmsford, Colchester and Southend put together.

Why the Maldon District?

Bradwell Nuclear Power Station was built on the edge of a former Second World War airfield, RAF Bradwell Bay, which is 1.5 miles inland from the Essex coast. This area was chosen because, at the time, it had little agricultural value, offered easy access by road, rail and sea, was geologically sound and had an unlimited source of cooling water from the North Sea and Blackwater Estuary.

Nuclear fuel for Bradwell was delivered and removed by rail with a loading facility next to Southminster railway station on the Crouch Valley line (the remains of this can be seen from the train as you pull into the station).

The Decomissioning Process Begins

In 1999, it was announced that the power station would stop generating power in 2002 and became the first nuclear power station in the UK to be closed on a planned basis. On 28 March 2002 Lord Braybrooke, Lord Lieutenant of Essex, unveiled a plaque to mark the end of operations at the station and the start of the decommissioning process.

Over the next three years, all spent nuclear fuel was removed and by 2011, the turbine hall was demolished. Five years later in 2016, the underground waste storage vaults were emptied and decontaminated.

The most recent works have included the demolition of all buildings except the ponds and two reactor buildings in 2019, with the reactor buildings demolishion and final site clearance scheduled for some time between 2083 and 2093.

The Future of Nuclear Power in the Maldon District?

In 2007, Bradwell Power Station became one of several locations being considered by British Energy for redevelopment in a new round of nuclear reactors. Three years later in October 2010, the UK Government announced that Bradwell Power Station was one of the eight sites being considered for future nuclear power stations.

In January 2017, the UK Office for Nuclear Regulation started their Generic Design Assessment process which is expected to be completed by 2021, with a target commercial operation date for some time in 2030.