1940s - Military Origins
MAUD Report
The Maud Committee publish two reports, covering the possibility of using uranium as a source of power and as a weapon.
1941
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project, led by the USA with the support of Canada and the UK, comprised research and development undertaken to produce the first nuclear weapons, during WW2.
1942
The Trinity Test
The Trinity Test, on 16 July 1945, was the first detonation of a nuclear weapon. Subsequently, the first atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima (6 August 1945) and Nagasaki (9 August 1945).
1945
Atomic Energy Research Establishment
On 1 January 1946, the Ministry of Supply established the Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE) at RAF Harwell, under the UK Atomic Energy Act 1946.
1946
1950s - Military to Civil
Windscale Piles
On the site of the former Sellafield Ordnance Factory, Windscale Pile 1 began operations to produce plutonium; Windscale Pile 2 followed in 1951. Their fuel (natural uranium) was produced at the Springfields site.
1950
Atoms for Peace
In a speech, US President Eisenhower proposed “Atoms for Peace” – that nuclear research and development should be reoriented from military to civil (electricity generation) purposes.
1953
UK Atomic Energy Authority
The UK Atomic Energy Act 1954 established the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), overseeing a research and development programme to develop nuclear reactor technologies and an atomic weapon deterrent.
1954
Calder Hall
On 17 October 1956 Queen Elizabeth opened the first full-scale Nuclear Power Station in the world, a Magnox Reactor at Calder Hall. Workington in Cumbria became the first town to be powered by nuclear energy.
1956
1960s - Nuclear for Power
Magnox Reactors
Throughout the 1960s, eight more first generation (Magnox) reactors were connected to the grid: Berkeley (1962), Bradwell (1962), Hunterston A (1964), Hinkley Point A (1965), Trawsfynydd (1965), Dungeness A (1966), Sizewell A (1966) and Oldbury (1968).
1960s
Non-Proliferation Treaty
The Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) represents an agreement to use civil nuclear material for peaceful purposes only, and establishes the five declared nuclear weapons states (China, France, Russia, UK, USA).
1968
1970s - A New Generation
Wylfa
The final first generation (Magnox) reactor is commissioned at Wylfa, Anglesey. Wylfa is a significant evolution of the first Magnox reactor at Calder Hall and can be considered a prototype to the first second generation (AGR) design.
1971
BNFL
British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL, headquartered in Risley, Warrington) established to develop, manage and operate UK nuclear fuel cycle facilities – Calder Hall, Chapelcross, Capenhurst, Springfields, Magnox Reprocessing.
1972
1980s - Changing Times
Sellafield
In 1981, the BNFL-owned portion of the Windscale and Calder Works were renamed as Sellafield. The remainder of the site, owned by UKAEA, continued to be known as Windscale.
1981
The end of the UK Nuclear Age?
A policy review by Margaret Thatcher’s conservative government ultimately led to the shelving of the then-planned PWRs at Hinkley Point C, Sizewell C and Wylfa B.
1989
1990s - Privatisation
British Energy
British Energy was established in 1995 and privatised in 1996, taking ownership of the UK’s AGR and PWR stations.
1996
Marine Protection
The UK signed the OSPAR Convention for protection of the marine environment of the North East Atlantic; restrictions on radioactive discharges would ultimately contribute to the end of reprocessing.
1997
2000s - A New Framework
Nuclear Industry Security Regulations
The Nuclear Industry Security Regulations 2003 (NISR 2003) provides the legal framework that underpins the security regulation of the nuclear industry, including the requirement for approved site security plans.
2003
Civil Nuclear Police Authority
Under the Energy Act 2004, the Civil Nuclear Police Authority (CNPA) were created to oversee the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) and meet the policing needs of the UK’s nuclear licenced sites.
2004
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
On 1 April 2005 the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) commenced its functions under the Energy Act 2004 with the mission to clean-up the UK’s earliest nuclear sites safely, securely and cost effectively. Sites on the NDA Estate include Sellafield, Dounreay and the Magnox sites.
2005
New Nuclear
A 2008 Government White Paper formally backs development of a new generation of nuclear power stations, identifying eight potential sites in 2009 and establishing the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process.
2008
EDF
EDF purchases British Energy, including the UK’s seven operating AGRs and one operating PWR.
2009
2010s - Transition
Fukushima
On 11 March 2011, a 15-metre tsunami led to the failure of the power supply and cooling to three reactors at Fukushima Daiichi, Japan. This event, an INES Level 7 incident, did not result in any deaths.
2011
The Final Magnox Reactor
Wylfa became the final Magnox station to enter decommissioning, with its two units ceasing power generation in 2015 (Reactor 1) and 2012 (Reactor 2) respectively. This marked the end of the Magnox Operating Programme.
2015
2020s - The Dawn of a New Era?
Great British Nuclear
During July 2023, the UK Government launched Great British Nuclear (GBN) to drive expansion of the nuclear sector in the UK and achieve 24 GW of nuclear electricity supply to the grid by 2050. GBN have thus launched competition funding for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and Advanced Nuclear Technologies (ANTs).
2023
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Below you can find references to the information and images used on this page.
Content References
- Graduate Awareness in Nuclear (GAIN) Course, NSAN
- Outline History of Nuclear Energy, World Nuclear Association
- United Kingdom, World Nuclear Association
- Nuclear Development in the United Kingdom, World Nuclear Association
- Safety of Nuclear Power Reactors, World Nuclear Association
- Safeguards to Prevent Nuclear Proliferation, World Nuclear Association
- Three Mile Island, World Nuclear Association
- Chernobyl, World Nuclear Association
- Fukushima Daiichi, World Nuclear Association
- Nuclear Fusion Power, World Nuclear Association
- History of Nuclear Timeline, Gov.UK
- On This Day 1956: Queen Switches on Nuclear Power, BBC
- Windscale Piles: Cockcroft’s Follies avoided nuclear disaster, BBC
- Licensing Nuclear Installations, ONR
- History, IAEA
- Records of the Inspectorate of Nuclear Installations and successors, The National Archives
- Dungeness B, EDF Energy
- Legal Framework & Regulations, ONR
- History, INPO
- Sizewell B Power Station Inquiry Report, UK Parliament
- Our History, WANO
- Our Mission, WANO
- Magnox Reprocessing Plant Achieves Final Milestone, Gov.UK
- Civil Nuclear Police Authority, Gov.UK
- About the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, Gov.UK
- Energy Act 2004, Legislation.Gov.UK
- Nuclear Regulatory Review, UK Parliament
- Hinkley Point C, ONR
- Ionising Radiation Regulations (NS-INSP-GD-054), ONR
- Operations to end at Sellafield’s Magnox Reprocessing Plant, Gov.UK
- AGR Decommissioning Factsheet, Gov.UK.
- Jet Makes History Again, ITER
- JET, CCFE
Image References
- The First Page of the MAUD Report, UK Government – Public Domain
- Los Alamos: Oppenheimer, Groves & Sproul – Courtesy of Los Alamos National Laboratory
- Trinity Test, US DOE – Public Domain
- Aerial View of Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Science & Technology Facilities Council – Licence CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED
- Windscale Piles, US DOE – Public Domain
- Croxall Rapeseed Fields in Staffordshire, Bs0u10e0 – Licence CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED
- Atoms for Peace U.S. postage stamp (from 1955), US Post Office – Public Domain
- ZETA Reactor, UK Government – Public Domain
- Dounreay: Fission on the North Coast, shirokazan – Licence CC BY 2.0 DEED
- Calder Hall Nuclear Power Station (after opening), UK Government – United Kingdom Open Government Licence v3.0
- Vienna International Centre, Rodolfo Quevenco / IAEA – Licence CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED
- Windscale Piles (1990), Sellafield Ltd – Licence CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED
- A View of the Sellafield Site (2014), Tom Anderson – Licence CC BY 2.0 DEED
- Chapelcross Nuclear Power Station, John – Licence CC BY-SA 3.0 DEED
- IAEA Safeguards Inspectors, US AEC / IAEA – Licence CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED
- Trawsfynydd Power Stations Old and New, Andrew – Licence CC BY 2.0 DEED
- Decommissioning of the Windscale Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor in Sellafield, IAEA – Licence CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED
- Magnox Reprocessing Plant, Gov.UK – Licence CC0 1.0 DEED
- Bradwell, Terryjoyce – Licence CC BY-SA 3.0 DEED
- Dungeness B Power Station, Sandpiper – Public Domain
- Earth Day, PX – Public Domain
- Wylfa Nuclear Power Station (from above), UK Government Agencies – United Kingdom Open Government Licence v3.0
- Aerial View of Sellafield, Simon Ledingham / Geograph – Licence CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED
- Building Dundee, Neil Williamson – Licence CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED
- Hunterston B Nuclear Power Station, Linear-Vertex – Licence CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED
- Exelon Three Mile Nuclear Island Generating Station, Constellation Energy – Licence CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED
- Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, NRC – Public Domain
- Sizewell B Aerial Image, John Fielding – Licence CC BY 2.0 DEED
- JET Vacuum Vessel, EUROfusion – Licence CC BY 4.0 DEED
- Aerial View of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant with Sarcophagus, Vadim Mouchkin / IAEA – Licence CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED
- Dungeness Power Stations, John K Thorne – Public Domain
- Sizewell A and B Nuclear Power Stations, Ted and Jen – Licence CC BY 2.0 DEED
- Berkeley Power Station, Robert Powell – Licence CC BY-SA 3.0 DEED
- Sellafield Viewed from Railway Line (ThORP), Raymond Knapman / Geograph – Licence CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED
- Sizewell B Power Station, Simon James – Licence CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED
- Hinkley Point B Reactors, Mark Robinson – Licence CC BY 2.0 DEED
- Evening Colors on the Atlantic Coast, Hervé Simon – Licence CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED
- Tokai Nuclear Power Plant, US DOE – Public Domain
- Nuclear Security Fence / Barriers, NRC – Licence CC BY 2.0 DEED
- Calder Hall Tower Demolition, UK Government Agencies – United Kingdom Open Government Licence v3.0
- Civil Nuclear Constabulary Škoda Kodiaq, Douglas Sinclair – Licence CC BY 2.0 DEED
- Torness Nuclear Power Plant, Alessandro Ambrosetti – Licence CC BY 2.0 DEED
- Meeting the Energy Challenge: A White Paper on Nuclear Power, UK Government / Gov.UK – Public Domain
- Torness Nuclear Power Station (April 2016), Taras Young – Licence CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED
- Fukushima Daiichi, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) – Licence CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED
- Hinkley Point C (Visualisation), Gov.UK – United Kingdom Open Government Licence v3.0
- West Somerset: Hinkley Point B Power Station, Lewis Clarke / Geograph – Licence CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED
- Wylfa Power Station, Reading Tom – Licence CC BY 2.0 DEED
- Hinkley Point C, Brett Jordan – Licence CC BY 2.0 DEED
- Radon Decay in a Cloud Chamber, Nuledo – Licence CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED
- Heysham Nuclear Power Stations, David Merrett – Licence CC BY 2.0 DEED
- JET Vessel Internal View, EUROfusion – Licence CC BY 4.0 DEED
- NASA Goes to the Olympics, NASA Earth Observatory – Licence CC BY 2.0 DEED