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NUCLEAR · Decommissioning

Oldbury

Oldbury is a Severn estuary Magnox site and an important reference point for long-term nuclear clean-up and site stewardship.

Magnox South West England Commissioned 1967 Closed 2012
Site image Decommissioning
Oldbury Nuclear Power Station
Oldbury Nuclear Power Station Oldbury on the Severn estuary, showing the scale and riverside siting of the former Magnox station. Image credit: Philip Halling / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
Magnox Technical views
Magnox process diagram
Coastal nuclear site arrangement
Early UK gas-cooled nuclear arrangement showing the reactor, heat exchangers, steam cycle and cooling system.

Station map context

OpenStreetMap view showing the actual atlas coordinate for Oldbury, with a wider local view and a closer site-focused view.

Wider location

This view places the station in its surrounding district, coast or industrial corridor.

Approx. coordinate used: 51.65, -2.571

Closer site view

This tighter map makes the specific site position much clearer for the station record.

Marker placed on the stored station coordinate in the atlas dataset.

Reference snapshot

StatusDecommissioning
FuelNuclear
TechnologyMagnox
Capacity434 MW
Commissioned1967
Closed2012
RegionSouth West
NationEngland
OwnerNDA
OperatorNuclear Restoration Services

Why it matters

  • Magnox site
  • Closed in 2012
  • Severn estuary location

This summary focuses on the key facts that explain the station’s role in the wider UK generation system.

Station timeline

These timeline entries highlight the main milestones for the site, including commissioning, major changes, closure and current status where relevant.

1967 Commissioned

Entered service in an earlier generation of the UK nuclear programme.

2012 Generation ended

The station stopped generating and entered post-operational work such as defuelling, care and maintenance, or site restoration.

2013 Long afterlife

Nuclear sites remain active long after closure because the clean-up cycle is measured in decades rather than months.

Reading the landscape

Power-station siting reflects engineering requirements, fuel and water logistics, grid access, industrial geography and the planning frameworks of the period in which the site was developed. Oldbury should therefore be read as part of a wider infrastructure system rather than as an isolated structure in the landscape.

Approx. coordinates: 51.65, -2.571

Source notes

  • Operational fleet context uses EDF’s January 2026 fleet update. Magnox and legacy clean-up context uses NDA / Nuclear Restoration Services site portfolios.
  • Capacities and years in this historical reference layer are simplified reference figures and should be checked against primary records where exact regulatory or reporting precision is required.

Gallery notes

These notes highlight the main structures, layout characteristics and historic changes associated with the station. They are intended as a concise interpretive layer alongside the reference data, timeline and technical diagrams.

Reactor typology

Magnox, AGR, PWR and EPR each imply different buildings, containment forms, fuel systems and visual signatures.

Landscape logic

Coastal siting often reflected cooling-water needs, grid access and strategic planning rather than scenic coincidence.

After generation

Unlike fossil stations, nuclear sites usually remain highly active long after electricity generation has ceased.

Further record development

This record can be expanded further with licensed site plans, archival photography, demolition or redevelopment updates, fuller unit-level timelines and linked planning or environmental documentation.