Knowledge Hub
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Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor (AGR) – A Second Generation for UK Nuclear
The Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactor, or AGR, is the UK's second generation reactor design. Locations of AGRs include Hartlepool, Heysham and Torness.
Advanced Modular Reactor (AMR) – The Future of Nuclear Energy Explained
The concept of an Advanced Modular Reactor, or AMR, has the potential to create an exciting nuclear future - innovating in technology, safety and more.
Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) – an introduction to this type of nuclear power plant
Boiling Water Reactors, or BWRs, are the second most common nuclear reactors in the world today. A Boiling Water Reactor directly boils water within the reactor core to produce steam, used to drive turbines and generate electricity.
Breeder Reactors – The Secret to Unlimited Nuclear Fuel?
Breeder Reactors are a unique type of nuclear reactor which produce more fuel than they consume. Is this the key to endless energy or is there a catch?
CANDU Reactor – A Guide to Canadian Nuclear Technology
What's a CANDU you ask? Take a tour of the world of CANDU to find out...
Cherenkov Radiation – The Ethereal Blue Glow
Cherenkov radiation is a fascinating phenomenon that occurs when charged particles travel through a medium resulting in a characteristic and eerie blue glow.
Chernobyl – A Deep Dive into the 1986 Nuclear Catastrophe
Chernobyl Incident, 26 April 1986
Control Rods – How to control a nuclear reactor
Control Rods control the fission reaction in a nuclear reactor. Find out how they work and what else they are used for...
Decommissioning – What goes up, must come down
Decommissioning is a lengthy and complicated process to safely dismantle nuclear plants and facilities. Explore how it works and where it's happening...
Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator (DNSR) – Who are they and what do they do?
Come and learn how our Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator (DNSR) regulates and how it is different from our Civil Regulator.
Disposal – Where are Spent Nuclear Fuel and Waste Stored?
The final step in the management of nuclear waste, disposal is to safely place radioactive material into a facility from which it is never designed to be recovered.
Enrichment – Because Natural Uranium Just Isn’t Enough
Learn why uranium enrichment is necessary in the nuclear fuel cycle, how it works, and where it takes place to power the world’s nuclear reactors.
Environment Agencies – Protecting People and Environment
Environment Agencies oversee the nuclear industry to ensure impacts on people and the environment are sufficiently considered.
Fission – How splitting an atom creates energy
Nuclear fission is the process of splitting an atomic nucleus into smaller parts. This reaction releases an enormous amount of energy.
Map of Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactors
Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactors are the UK's second generation nuclear plants. Find out where all AGR reactor sites are located.
Abram Alikhanov – The Rise of Soviet Nuclear Research
Abram Alikhanov was a Soviet physicist whose work shaped early particle and nuclear physics, the Soviet atomic program, and major accelerator projects.
Albert Einstein – A Journey Through Space and Time
Albert Einstein is possibly the most famous scientist to ever live. He is most well known for discovering the equivalence between mass and energy.
Alvin M. Weinberg – The Visionary Behind America’s Early Reactors
Alvin M. Weinberg was a pioneering nuclear physicist and long‑time director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Andrei Sakharov – Scientist, Dissident, Icon
Andrei Sakharov bridged two strikingly different worlds: the secretive realm of Soviet nuclear research and the openly defiant sphere of human rights activism.
Arthur Compton – The Quiet Revolutionary of Quantum Theory
Arthur Compton discovered the particle nature of electromagnetic radiation, and received a Nobel Prize in physics for his efforts.
Arthur Eddington – The Man Who Proved Einstein Right
Arthur Eddington was a pioneering astrophysicist whose work shaped modern astronomy and brought Einstein’s theory of general relativity to global attention.
Chien-Shiung Wu – The First Lady of Physics
Chien-Shiung Wu conducted the first experimental test of parity violation in weak nuclear interactions, disproving a fundamental symmetry law in physics.
Dmitri Mendeleev – The Man Who Brought Structure to the Elements
Dmitri Mendeleev was a Russian chemist best known for creating the periodic table and transforming our understanding of the elements.
Edwin McMillan – The Innovator Behind Modern High‑Energy Science
Edwin McMillan was a pioneering physicist whose discovery of neptunium and innovations in particle accelerators shaped modern nuclear and high‑energy science.
Ellen Gleditsch – Norway’s Pioneer of Radiochemistry
Ellen Gleditsch was a Norwegian radiochemist whose career helped shape the early study of radioactivity.
Emilio Segrè – A Journey Through Atoms, Antimatter, and History
Emilio Segrè discovered technetium, astatine, and plutonium-239. He also discovered the antiproton earning him a Nobel Prize in physics.
Enrico Fermi – Architect of the Nuclear Age
Enrico Fermi was a brilliant physicist, best known for his development of the first artificial nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1.
Ernest Lawrence – The Physicist Who Built Big Science
Ernest Lawrence lived a life that reshaped modern physics and set the stage for the era of large‑scale scientific research.
Ernest Rutherford – The Father of Nuclear Physics
Ernest Rutherford is most well known for his gold foil experiment which resulted in a new model for the structure of the atom.
Eugene Wigner – A Life Shaped by Symmetry and Science
Eugene Wigner contributed to the development of the theory of the atomic nucleus and elementary particles, receiving the Nobel Prize in Physics for his efforts.
Changing the world – The defining moments of nuclear history
Immerse yourself in some of the world-changing moments of nuclear history, captured by a collection of breath-taking photographs.
Faces of Nuclear – The people that made it happen
Behind each and every discovery there were people who made it happen. Explore their incredible lives and what they contributed to make nuclear possible.
Frozen in time – Unique views into the past
Breath-taking photographs of the early civil nuclear age. Things were moving fast, innovation was radical, and nuclear was on track to change the world.
Life at Calder Hall – An insider perspective
Explore a unique insider perspective at the very start of the civil nuclear age and find out what life was like at Calder Hall.
Sneak peek – Objects from behind the fence
Sneak behind the metaphorical fence and explore a collection of unique objects and facilities you might encounter on different nuclear sites.
Can nuclear reactors explode like nuclear bombs?
If everything imaginable went wrong with a nuclear reactor, could it explode like a nuclear bomb?
Do nuclear power stations emit a lot of radiation?
Does the average person get most of their radiation from nuclear power stations? If not, where does their radiation exposure actually come from?
Does nuclear energy produce a lot of waste?
Nuclear waste is one of the key downsides of nuclear energy, but is there actually a lot of it?
Does nuclear energy release a lot of pollution?
Do fears about nuclear pollution reflect scientific evidence, or are they shaped more by history and headlines?
Does nuclear waste glow green?
Pop culture loves to portray nuclear waste as glowing with an intense sickly green, but is this depiction actually true?
Does nuclear waste have to be stored forever?
Nuclear waste is the unfortunate by-product of nuclear energy, but will it be around forever?
Is nuclear energy bad for the environment?
The role of nuclear energy in the march towards net zero is heavily debated. Is nuclear energy good or bad for the environment?
Is nuclear energy outdated and stagnant?
Nuclear energy has had a tumultuous history with bursts of innovation and periods of stagnation. Does nuclear power still have a future?
Is some of the food we eat radioactive?
Is the food we eat naturally radioactive, and if so, how do harmless trace levels end up in everyday items like bananas and potatoes?