Chapelcross nuclear power station

Chapelcross nuclear power station is a former Magnox nuclear power station undergoing decommissioning. It is located in Annan in Dumfries and Galloway in southwest Scotland, and was in operation from 1959 to 2004. It was the sister plant to the Calder Hall nuclear power station plant in Cumbria, England; both were commissioned and originally operated by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. The primary purpose of both plants was to produce weapons-grade plutonium for the UK's nuclear weapons programme, but they also generated electrical power for the National Grid. Later in the reactors' lifecycle, as the UK slowed the development of the nuclear deterrent as the cold war came to a close, power production became the primary goal of reactor operation. The site is being decommissioned by Nuclear Decommissioning Authority subsidiary Magnox Ltd. The station's four cooling towers were demolished in 2007. The reactors are spent-fuel free and are currently undergoing dismantlement of primary loop equipment such as heat exchangers and hot gas ducts. Once complete, the reactors will enter a care and maintenance stage to allow radiation levels to decline before the reactors themselves are demolished. Chapelcross occupies a site on the location of former World War II training airfield, RAF Annan, located north east of the town of Annan in the Annandale and Eskdale district within the Dumfries and Galloway region of south west Scotland. The nearest hamlet is Creca. Chapelcross was the sister plant to Calder Hall in Cumbria, England. Construction was carried out by Mitchell Construction and was completed in 1959. The primary purpose was to produce plutonium for the UK's nuclear weapons programme, for weapons including the WE.177 series. Electricity was always considered to be a by-product. Both Chapelcross and Calderhall were the only nuclear power stations built as part of the UK's gas reactor fleet to use cooling towers as a heat sink as opposed to using the sea.