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UK nuclear generation record set in Lancashire, while Somerset site passes double milestone
21/1/2026
News
Heysham 2 power station in Lancashire has become the UK’s most productive nuclear power plant after generating 311 TWh of low-carbon electricity over its 37-year operational lifetime. The advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR) station is the second generation of gas-cooled reactors after the Magnox designs, and are unique to the UK.
According to operator EDF data, the nuclear power plant has prevented approximately 108mn tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere compared to stations powered by natural gas. The facility employs around 520 full-time EDF staff and more than 250 contract partners. When EDF took control of the fleet in 2009, Heysham 2 was scheduled to cease generation in 2023 after 35 years of operation. The current end-of-generation date is now March 2030, with potential for further extension subject to plant inspections and regulatory approvals.
Heysham 2’s record is impressive when compared to its sibling, Heysham 1, which has generated 243 TWh of zero carbon electricity since 1983. Heysham 1 will continue generating until March 2028.
Hinkley Point B achieves fuel-free status
In related developments, the Office for Nuclear Regulation granted Hinkley Point B Fuel Free Verification status in January 2026, confirming all nuclear fuel has been removed on time and on budget. The achievement removes the largest source of radiation and allows the Somerset facility to transition into full decommissioning.
Hinkley Point B was an AGR and first connected to the grid in February 1976. It generated 310.7 TWh of electricity before permanent shutdown in August 2022. Work to remove nuclear fuel commenced within weeks of closure and the final fuel flask left the site on 28 November 2025. Over three years, more than 4,900 elements of used fuel were removed, packaged into transport flasks, then shipped by rail to Sellafield for storage.
Hinkley Point C construction progress
The adjacent Hinkley Point C construction site received its second reactor pressure vessel in January 2026. The 500-tonne, 13-metre steel cylinder was manufactured at the Framatome Saint Marcel factory in France, shipped across the English Channel, and then completed a six-hour road journey to the construction site.
Each reactor pressure vessel will house the nuclear fission reaction to create heat to raise steam to power turbines designed to power approximately three million homes. With the arrival of the second reactor – following the delivery of the first in 2023 – the station is set to open in 2031.
UK’s nuclear fleet
The UK’s generating fleet consists of four AGRs: Heysham 1 in Lancashire (started in 1983), Hartlepool in Teesside (1983), Heysham 2 in Lancashire (1988), Torness in East Lothian (1988), and one PWR – Sizewell B in Suffolk (1995).
