Dounreay

Dounreay nuclear site
View of site in 2006, with DFR sphere at centre
Map
Official nameNRS Dounreay
Formerly: UKAEA Dounreay;
Dounreay Nuclear Power Development Establishment
CountryUnited Kingdom
Coordinates58°34′48″N 3°44′37″W / 58.58009°N 3.74368°W / 58.58009; -3.74368
StatusDecommissioning in progress
Commission date1955
Decommission date1994 (Ceased generating but other activities continued)
OwnerNuclear Decommissioning Authority
OperatorsUnited Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
(1955–2008)
Dounreay Site Restoration Limited
(2008–2023)
Nuclear Restoration Services
(2023–present)
Employees1,283 (Staff)
700 (Contractors)
[2022] [1]
Nuclear power station
Reactors3
Reactor typeFast breeder reactor
Site area135 acre
Power generation
Units operationalNone operational
Nameplate capacityDFR 14 MWe
PFR 250 MWe
Annual net outputDFR
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
Websitehttps://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/nuclear-restoration-services
CommonsRelated media on Commons

grid reference NC9811366859

Dounreay (/ˌdnˈr/;[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]

  1. ^ Mace (22 September 2022). "DOUNREAY SOCIO-ECONOMIC REPORT (EXTERNAL)" (PDF). GOV.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  2. ^ "Dounreay". Collins. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  3. ^ Press and Journal, 11 July 2020
  4. ^ The Press and Journal, 13 March 2020