HINKLEY POINT B NUCLEAR POWER STATION
HINKLEY POINT B
Work on this plant involved an extensive 11-month excavation operation and the driving of 1,200m of tunnels.
General Information
Constructed on the Bristol Channel near Bridgwater in Somerset, Hinkley Point ‘B’ went on line in 1976.
The plant’s two Advanced Gas Cooled Reactors are capable of providing a total generating capacity of 1,250 megawatts.
The project involved the full design of the plant’s reactors and construction of the entire facility including the power plant containment buildings, cooling water systems, ancillary buildings and associated site infrastructure.
Fast facts
- Client
- Central Electricity Generating Board
- Duration
- 1966 - 1971
- Location
- Somerset
- Region
- Wales & West
- Sector
- Industrial & Energy
Excavations for the plant’s cooling water pumphouse were 14m wide and 23m deep. On one side the excavation reached down a further 7.5m to form the shaft from where an intake tunnel was driven 762m out to sea.
In a design developed by the company, Hinkley Point ‘B’s boiler and gas circulators were integrated with the plant’s prestressed concrete pressure vessel.
Hinkley Point ‘B’ was one of three AGR nuclear power plants designed and built for the Central Electricity Generating Board which also included Hunterston ‘B’ and Torness.