As part of our work to analyse the management of radioactive waste across various facilities in the UK, CoRWM spent a day visiting the Dungeness A and B nuclear power stations in March 2026. The Dungeness power stations are located next to the coast on Romney Marsh in Kent. The area is of international importance for its topography, plant and invertebrate communities and Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay have been designated as a Special Protection Area.
Dungeness has 2 power stations Dungeness A and B. Dungeness A is a legacy Magnox power station that was connected to the grid in 1965. It had 2 reactors that stopped operation on 31 December 2006. The reactors were designed to operate for 25 years but lasted far beyond this. Dungeness B was an Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor (AGR), operated by EDF Energy. It contained 2 reactors which began operation in 1983 and 1985. The reactors were closed for maintenance in 2018, with an announcement in June 2021 that the reactors would move into their defueling phase.
Both reactor facilities are highly exposed to weather conditions, and it is an area where these conditions can be extreme. Whilst it is not an issue for nuclear safety and security, during the tour, it was clear that the combination of high winds and its coastal location meant that salt-water was a particular challenge, with corrosion having a significant impact on infrastructure.
At Dungeness A we were able to see a range of facilities, including the Wet Waste Transfer Facility, the Advanced Vacuum Drying System and the Package Handling Facility. Some of which had been recently constructed to support decommissioning, which is now progressing well. At Dungeness B we were able to view the tops of the reactors from a viewing gallery, as well as see around the turbine hall.
Our analysis of the power stations at Dungeness will feed into CoRWM’s wider stream of work on waste management, which has seen us visit many other nuclear facilities in the UK over the last few months, such as Sizewell, Dounreay and Sellafield.