International edition
Nuclear News Network

Reporting the buildout, from mine to megawatt

Nuclear Decommissioning Tracker

Dungeness B

Fuel removal · United Kingdom · Deferred (SAFSTOR)

Dungeness B, a twin AGR station that last generated in September 2018, moved straight into defueling in June 2021 rather than restart. EDF is still removing fuel, and in March 2026 the ONR consulted on EDF's decommissioning scoping report; the site will later pass to the NDA.

New to decommissioning? The nuclear decommissioning market in 2026: size, players, pipeline

Current state

StatusFuel removal
CountryUnited Kingdom
LocationDungeness, Kent, England
SiteDungeness
UnitsReactor 1, Reactor 2
Unit count2
Reactor typesAGR
Owner / licenseeEDF Energy
StrategyDeferred (SAFSTOR)
Final shutdown2021-06
Spent fuelDefueling under way since 2021 (about 25% of one reactor's fuel removed as of December 2024).
Notable issueFull site restoration expected to take nearly a century; neighbouring Magnox Dungeness A is separately decommissioned by NRS.

Notes

final shutdown uses the June 2021 decision to end generation (last power was September 2018).

Timeline

  • 1983-04 — Dungeness B first connected to the grid. (source)
  • 2018-09 — Dungeness B stopped generating electricity during an extended outage. (source)
  • 2021-06 — EDF moved Dungeness B into the defueling phase with immediate effect. (source)
  • 2024-12-17 — EDF reported about 25% of one reactor's fuel had been removed. (source)
  • 2026-03-16 — ONR launched a consultation on EDF's scoping report for decommissioning Dungeness B. (source)

The timeline is append-only: corrections are added as new entries. Stated targets appear in the current-state table, never as milestones.

Related sites

See all 72 sites in the Nuclear Decommissioning Tracker →

Sources

  1. Dungeness B — Office for Nuclear Regulation (primary), checked 2026-10-11
  2. ONR launches consultation on Dungeness B decommissioning plans — Office for Nuclear Regulation (primary), checked 2026-10-11
  3. Dungeness: 'Long journey ahead' for nuclear plant clean-up — BBC News, checked 2026-10-11
  4. EDF retires U.K.'s Dungeness plant — ANS Nuclear Newswire, checked 2026-10-11