Calder+Hall

=Calder Hall= The world's first commercial nuclear power plant in Seascale, England. The Calder Hall Nuclear Power Plant consists of four gas-graphite reactors, each with an electrical power of 55 MW. First connection to the grid on August 27, 1956. Final shutdown due to commercial reasons March 31, 2003.

=The Shut down of Calder Hall= The station produced 180 megawatts of heat, most of which was used on site, but 40 megawatts of electricity went into the grid - tiny by comparison with a modern station. When calder hall was first started it was advertised as cheap energy but was actually the most expensive at the time. Calder Hall was the first of a series of magnox stations, so-called because the fuel cans were made of magnesium alloy. The second one, Chapelcross in Dumfries, was also built for military reasons. Altogether 11 stations, each slightly larger than the last, were eventually built, producing 10% of Britain's electricity. The magnox design was replaced by new advanced gas-cooled reactors, whose sole purpose was electricity production. The 180 megawatt heat of the first station compares with the 1,200 megawatts of power from the newest design, a pressurised water reactor, Sizewell B, in Suffolk, which produces about 5% of the UK's power needs.

Sources http://www.euronuclear.org/info/encyclopedia/calderhall.htm http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/mar/21/nuclear.world