Chapelcross was a Magnox nuclear power station located near the town of Annan in Dumfries and Galloway in south west Scotland. It was the sister plant to Calder Hall in Cumbria, both built and originally operated by the UKAEA. The primary purpose of both plants was to produce weapons-grade plutonium for UK's nuclear weapons programme, but they also generated electrical power on a commercial basis even though the plants' thermal efficiency was only 19%. Magnox is an obsolesent type of nuclear power reactor; When operated on a short fuel cycle (which is uneconomic) they can also produce plutonium for nuclear weapons. ... A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. ... The town of Annan stands on the River Annan in the region of Dumfries and Galloway on the Solway Firth in the south of Scotland. ... Dumfries and Galloway (Dùn Phris agus Gall-Ghaidhealaibh in Gaelic) is one of 32 unitary council areas in Scotland. ... Royal motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (English: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within the United Kingdom Languages English, Gaelic, Scots Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... Sellafield is a village near the coast of the Irish Sea in Cumbria, England, close to the village and railway station of Seascale. ... The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority was established in 1954 as a statutory corporation to oversee and pioneer the development of nuclear energy within the United Kingdom. ... General Name, Symbol, Number plutonium, Pu, 94 Chemical series actinides Group, Period, Block n/a, 7, f Appearance silvery white Atomic mass (244) g/mol Electron configuration [Rn] 5f6 7s2 Electrons per shell 2, 8, 18, 32, 24, 8, 2 Physical properties Phase solid Density (near r. ... Vanguard Class Submarine Nuclear program start date: October 21, 1939 First nuclear weapon test: 2 October, 1952 First fusion weapon test: May 15 1957 Last nuclear test: 26 November, 1991 Largest yield test: Total tests: 45 detonations Peak stockpile: 350 warheads (1970s) Current stockpile: c. ...

Chapelcross operated from 1959 until 2004. At the time of its closure it was one of the oldest nuclear power plants in the UK. It consisted of 4 x 50MWe Magnox reactors for a peak electric power output of 200MWe. 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... MWe and MWt are units for measuring the output of a power plant. ...

In May, 1967 unit 2 suffered a partial meltdown after being refuelled, when a fuel rod failed and caught fire. The reactor was restarted in 1969 after repairs [1] [2]. Look up May in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A nuclear meltdown occurs when the core of a nuclear reactor melts. ... Nuclear power station at Leibstadt, Switzerland. ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday For other uses, see Number 1969. ...

A tritium production facility called the Chapelcross Processing Plant (CXPP) also operated on the site, run by BNFL for the UK Ministry of Defence. This plant produced some liquid radioactive waste disposed of via a pipeline to the Solway Firth, and gaseous radioactive waste discharged to the atmosphere. Because of this defence programme the site was not subject to international safeguards until 1998 [3]. Tritium (symbol T or 3H) is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. ... BNFLs 18 UK sites BNFL, British Nuclear Fuels plc, is an international company, owned by the British government, concerned with nuclear power. ... Main Building - The Headquarters of the Ministry of Defence, Whitehall, Westminster, London Tri-service badge of the UK armed forces The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and the headquarters of the UK military. ... A Russian fissile material storage facility Radioactive waste is waste material containing radioactive chemical elements that does not have a practical purpose. ... Map of Solway Firth. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...

External links

• Chapelcross Nuclear Power Station
• Chapelcross to close, Bellona Foundation, 29 June 2004
• Map sources for Chapelcross