Hunterston B, a two-reactor AGR station, stopped generating in January 2022 and became the first UK AGR declared fuel-free in April 2025. On 1 April 2026 it became the first AGR transferred from EDF to the NDA's Nuclear Restoration Services for decommissioning.
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Current state
| Status | Active dismantling |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Location | West Kilbride, North Ayrshire, Scotland |
| Site | Hunterston |
| Units | Reactor 1, Reactor 2 |
| Unit count | 2 |
| Reactor types | AGR |
| Owner / licensee | Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (site licensee: Nuclear Restoration Services) |
| Decommissioning contractor | Nuclear Restoration Services |
| Strategy | Deferred (SAFSTOR) |
| Final shutdown | 2022-01 |
| Decommissioning start | 2026-04-01 |
| Spent fuel | Fuel-free since April 2025: 4,880 spent fuel elements shipped by rail to Sellafield in ~350 flasks (2022-2025). |
| Notable issue | Defueling funded by the £20.7bn Nuclear Liabilities Fund; first of seven AGRs to transfer to the NDA. |
Notes
Strategy: AGR baseline is early 'lead and learn' dismantling then reactor safestore — classified deferred-safstor with medium certainty; NDA AGR strategy is not detailed in the sources reviewed.
Timeline
- 1976 — Hunterston B began generating. (source)
- 2022-01 — Hunterston B stopped generating electricity. (source)
- 2024-08 — ONR granted EDF consent to decommission Hunterston B. (source)
- 2025-04 — ONR declared Hunterston B fuel-free, the first UK AGR to reach that point. (source)
- 2026-04-01 — The site transferred from EDF to the NDA, managed by Nuclear Restoration Services. (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
- Barsebäck Nuclear Power Plant Active dismantling · Sweden
- Berkeley (Magnox) SAFSTOR · United Kingdom
- Bradwell (Magnox) SAFSTOR · United Kingdom
- Dounreay (DFR and PFR fast reactors) Active dismantling · United Kingdom
- Dresden Unit 1 SAFSTOR · United States
- Dungeness B Fuel removal · United Kingdom
- Hinkley Point B Active dismantling · United Kingdom
- Humboldt Bay Power Plant Unit 3 License terminated · United States
See all 72 sites in the Nuclear Decommissioning Tracker →
Sources
- Transfer complete: Hunterston B ownership change signals new phase for site — EDF Energy (primary), checked 2026-10-11
- Hunterston B site — NRS Site Stakeholder Groups (primary), checked 2026-10-11
- Hunterston B — Office for Nuclear Regulation (primary), checked 2026-10-11
- About NRS — NRS Site Stakeholder Groups (primary), checked 2026-10-11