Winfrith
Summary
- Operator/Licensee: Research Sites Restoration Ltd
- Parent body organisation: UKAEA Ltd (owned by Babcock International Group (BIG) Limited)
- Type of site: Decommissioning
- Location: Newburgh, Dorchester, Dorset
Background
Winfrith was opened in 1957, to offer additional space for the UK’s civil nuclear research programme. Major progress has been made restoring the Winfrith site, since the start of decommissioning in the 1990s.
It became a centre for research and development, including the prototype high gas cooled reactor DRAGON and the SGHWR (Steam Generating Heavy Water Reactor), which provided enough electricity to the National Grid to power a small town. Later the site also diversified into other disciplines, such as safety testing and oil exploration.
Winfrith has had at various times, nine research and development reactors. The last operational reactor at Winfrith closed in 1995, since then the focus for the site has been on decommissioning.
Almost a third of the site’s clean-up programme has been completed and no high hazard nuclear facilities now exist. The decommissioning programme is scheduled for completion in 2040, with site closure by 2048.