Dounreay nuclear power plant — United Kingdom

Dounreay nuclear power plant is a retired nuclear power station in Highland, United Kingdom. Its current lifecycle status is “Retired” — so it is not yet, or no longer, generating at full output. It ranks #119 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).

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

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 265 MW, Dounreay nuclear power plant is below the median nuclear plant in United Kingdom (965 MW). Technically it is described as fast breeder 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 #20 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

• Hill of Lybster · Wind · 4.9 MW · Scotland
• Hill of Lybster (Extension) · Wind · 5.2 MW · Scotland
• Baillie · Wind · 52.5 MW · Scotland
• Forss · Wind · 2 MW · Scotland
• Forss Extension · Wind · 5.2 MW · Scotland
• Strathy North · Wind · 67.7 MW · Scotland

Location

Coordinates 58.5805, -3.7374 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions