| Dounreay nuclear site | |
|---|---|
 View of site in 2006, with DFR sphere at centre | |
 | |
| Official name | NRS Dounreay Formerly: UKAEA Dounreay; Dounreay Nuclear Power Development Establishment |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 58°34′48″N 3°44′37″W / 58.58009°N 3.74368°W |
| Status | Decommissioning in progress |
| Commission date | 1955 |
| Decommission date | 1994 (Ceased generating but other activities continued) |
| Owner | Nuclear Decommissioning Authority |
| Operators | United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (1955–2008) Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (2008–2023) Nuclear Restoration Services (2023–present) |
| Employees | 1,283 (Staff) 700 (Contractors) [2022] [1] |
| Nuclear power station | |
| Reactors | 3 |
| Reactor type | Fast breeder reactor |
| Site area | 135 acre |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | None operational |
| Nameplate capacity | DFR 14 MWe PFR 250 MWe |
| Annual net output | DFR 55.9 GWh (Peak 1972) 32.1 GWh (Average 1972-77) PFR 1042.6 GWh (Peak 1989) 528.1 GWh (Average 1978-91) |
| External links | |
| Website | https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/nuclear-restoration-services |
| Commons | Related media on Commons |
grid reference NC9811366859 | |
Dounreay (/ˌduːnˈreɪ/;[2] Scottish Gaelic: Dùnrath) is a small settlement and the site of two large nuclear establishments on the north coast of Caithness in the Highland area of Scotland. It is on the A836 road nine miles (fourteen kilometres) west of Thurso.
The nuclear establishments were created in the 1950s. They were the Nuclear Power Development Establishment (NPDE), now known as NRS Dounreay, for the development of civil fast breeder reactors, and the Vulcan Naval Reactor Test Establishment (NRTE), a military submarine reactor testing facility. Both these no longer perform their original research functions and will be completely decommissioned. The two establishments have been a major element in the economy of Thurso and Caithness, but this will decrease with the progress of decommissioning.
NRS Dounreay will enter an interim care and surveillance state by 2036, and become a brownfield site by 2336. An announcement in July 2020 that the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) will be taking over direct management of the site from the site licence company Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) in 2021 has alleviated fears of 560 job losses.[3]
The NRTE is to be decommissioned under a ten-year contract starting in 2023, ending in the creation of a brownfield site, which would be transferred to the NDA.[4]
- ^ Mace (22 September 2022). "DOUNREAY SOCIO-ECONOMIC REPORT (EXTERNAL)" (PDF). GOV.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
- ^ "Dounreay". Collins. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
- ^ Press and Journal, 11 July 2020
- ^ The Press and Journal, 13 March 2020