Nuclear power plant in , United Kingdom. Approximate location 53.4161, -4.4808.
NuclearUnited KingdomMAGNOXgas-cooled reactor
Wylfa nuclear power plant is a 1,070 MW nuclear power station in , United Kingdom. It is operated by Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (United Kingdom) [100%]. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 2.4 million homes (estimated). It ranks #48 of 2,860 United Kingdom power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1971, it is around 55 years old — an older, legacy facility. 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_wylfa_unite.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and fuel fields on this page are source-record values from the upstream open dataset. They are useful for identification and ranking, but they have not been upgraded to a 2026 registry/GEM-location verified value.
capacity: GEM GNPT; fuel: GEM GNPT
At 1,070 MW, Wylfa nuclear power plant is well above the median nuclear plant in United Kingdom (965 MW). Technically it is described as gas-cooled reactor. 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.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (United Kingdom) [100%].
This nuclear plant uses heat from nuclear fission to raise steam for a turbine-generator. It sits in a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 53.4°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 17% above the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.
Climate heat-demand index: 59/100 — this site sits in the mid third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.
For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in a corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C4 — High), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
The #12 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.
Coordinates 53.4161, -4.4808 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Wylfa nuclear power plant is a 1,070 MW nuclear power plant in , United Kingdom, commissioned in 1971.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 2,410,251 homes (estimated).
Wylfa nuclear power plant is operated by Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (United Kingdom) [100%].
