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Calder Hall nuclear power plant — United Kingdom

Retired nuclear power-station site in Cumbria, United Kingdom. Approximate location 54.4184, -3.4921.

NuclearCumbriaUnited KingdomMAGNOXgas-cooled reactorRetired

Calder Hall nuclear power plant is a retired nuclear power station in Cumbria, United Kingdom. Its current lifecycle status is “Retired” — so it is not yet, or no longer, generating at full output. It ranks #124 of 2,860 United Kingdom power plants by installed capacity. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, nuclear supplies about 12.4% of United Kingdom's electricity; the national grid averages 217 gCO₂/kWh (64.4% low-carbon) (2025).

240MW installed capacity
3construction time (1953→1956)
1956commissioned (~70 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id GEM_nuc_calderhall_unite.

Data status

Known data

FacilityCalder Hall nuclear power plant GEM-nuclear
CountryUnited Kingdom · Cumbria GEM-nuclear
Coordinates54.4184, -3.4921 GEM-nuclear
FuelNuclear GEM-nuclear
MW installed capacity240 MW GEM Global Nuclear Power Tracker September 2025 unit-status sum (retired); retired/historical capacity
Verification noteSum of 4 GNPT unit records in the selected retired historical scope. source-verified
OwnerNuclear Decommissioning Authority (United Kingdom) [100%] GEM-nuclear
Commissioned1956 GEM-nuclear
Technologygas-cooled reactor GEM-nuclear

Calculated from dataset

Capacity rank in country#124 / 2860 calculated
Fuel-specific rank in country#21 / 25 calculated
Capacity vs country/fuel peers0.25× · 965 MW · n=25 calculated
Climate8.2°C · HDD 3,569 derived from coordinates
Environmental severityC4 · 28/100 derived from coordinates

Not available

GWh reported / yrNot available not in dataset
CO₂ emissionsnot applicable not applicable

Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.

Data provenance

Source of the capacity and fuel values:

capacity: GEM Global Nuclear Power Tracker September 2025 unit-status sum (retired); fuel: GEM GNPT

In context: how this plant compares

At 240 MW, Calder Hall nuclear power plant is below the median nuclear plant in United Kingdom (965 MW). Technically it is described as gas-cooled reactor. Its lifecycle status is Retired; it no longer generates electricity. Nuclear plants split uranium to raise steam with no direct CO₂; they run as steady baseload with very high capacity factors and the longest operating lifetimes of any thermal plant.

Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #21 largest nuclear power plant of 25 in United Kingdom by capacity.

United Kingdom has 25 nuclear power plants in this dataset, together about 27,683 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 54.4184, -3.4921 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions

What type of power plant is Calder Hall nuclear power plant?

Calder Hall nuclear power plant was a nuclear-fired power station in Cumbria, United Kingdom and was retired.

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