[ RadSafe ] Britain closes 2 oldest nuclear plants

[Sandy Perle]

Note: Wishing all the very best this New Years!
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Britain closes 2 oldest nuclear plants 

LONDON - The two oldest commercial nuclear power stations in the 
world were closed down Sunday after 40 years of service, the British 
Nuclear Group said. 
 
Reactors at Dungeness A, southeast of London, and Sizewell A, in 
eastern England, were being shut down over a period of several hours, 
the group said in a statement. The reactors had reached the end of 
their life cycle and were less efficient than modern plants.

Britain's 23 nuclear power stations supply around 20 percent of the 
country's electricity - and all but one are due to be closed by 2023.

In July, Prime Minister        Tony Blair said a new generation of 
nuclear power plants would be built to replace them, angering 
environmentalists eager to promote renewable power sources such as 
sun, wind and waves.

Blair said plans for new nuclear power stations would be approved in 
the coming years. The plants will be built by private companies 
without government subsidy, he said.

The statement said it would take between two and three years to 
remove fuel from the two reactors, which will be taken to a 
reprocessing site in Sellafield, northern England.

Clearing the reactor sites and the removal of all radioactive 
material would not be complete until 2110, the statement said.

"These two power stations have fulfilled a vital role in providing 
electricity for the southeast of England and both their operational 
and safety records have been exemplary," said Mark Morant, managing 
director of British Nuclear Group's reactor sites business.

Two smaller units at Bulgaria's only nuclear plant, Kozlodui, were 
also closing down Sunday, a requirement for its        European Union 
entry on Monday, the National Electric Company said.

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