Somerset AGR Hinkley Point B passes to NRS for dismantling

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World Nuclear News said on Friday, 2 October 2026, that the station at Hinkley Point B, in Somerset, England, has left EDF Energy and gone to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority so dismantling can start. Its two advanced gas-cooled reactors first fed the grid in February 1976. They made over 311 terawatt-hours before a final stop in August 2022, and by the handover they had already been closed for four years.

Taking out the remaining nuclear fuel started within weeks of that stop. The last of it departed on 28 November the year before. Crews had extracted more than 4,900 used-fuel elements, sealed them into purpose-built flasks fit for transport, and shipped those flasks to Sellafield in Cumbria to be kept. In January 2026 the Office for Nuclear Regulation issued Fuel-Free Verification, confirming the station held no nuclear fuel and could enter decommissioning. EDF had filed its application in September 2024. During late October 2025, after a public consultation, ONR inspectors accepted the plans once they had reviewed the environmental statement alongside the Habitats Regulations Assessment.

ONR has now agreed relicensing that places Nuclear Restoration Services, an NDA subsidiary, in charge of the station. The licence became active when ownership changed and sets the conditions needed for later dismantling, demolition, clearance and restoration. NRS will do that work and is already taking apart the neighbouring station, Hinkley Point A. This handover is the second AGR to reach the NDA, with Hunterston B having moved in April this year, and Tom Eagleton called it the first English AGR to come under NRS. Eagleton, who leads ONR safety work covering decommissioning, fuel and waste sites, said the step followed years of joint preparation involving the Environment Agency, EDF, government, the Nuclear Liabilities Fund and the NDA group, and that ONR is satisfied NRS can dismantle the station safely. A June 2021 arrangement between the UK government and EDF set out that the company would aim to shorten fuel removal after shutdown, then pass the stations to the NDA. EDF had earlier held lifetime responsibility for seven AGR stations due to cease generation during this decade: Torness, Hunterston B, Dungeness B, Hartlepool, both Heysham stations and Hinkley Point B.

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