Sizewell 'B' Power Station Tour

Today 18 of us paid a visit to Sizewell 'B' Nuclear Power station for a guided tour.

I did this before in June 2023, but Dawn was still teaching then and wasn't able to go, so I joined her in today's group. No mobile phones or cameras are on site so I couldn't take any pictures, but the format and tour were essentially the same.

One that was different, was that work has now started on Sizewell 'C' and we were able to glimpse what was happening on the site.

First we had a briefing from Mike in the exhibition centre and then we were split into two groups, kitted out with PPE and taken on the tour. We were in the group of 12 led by Jo and Elizabeth.

You can't go in the containment dome, but here is a view of the water surrounding the nuclear reactor  during refuelling which glows a stunning bright blue.

That is because radiation particles are travelling faster than light through the water. That causes a shockwave which produces a sparkling glow, known as Cherenkov radiation. Read more about inside the dome here.

Here's a view of the turbine hall.

Here's one of the generators.

We were invited to put our hands on the casing of the turbines further back to "feel 1.5% of the country's electricity being generated".

This is what the turbine blades look like.

The outside of the largest blades travel at twice the speed of sound.

No group photo this time, but read more about the power station and what we saw in my blog post from last time here.

The power station is just coming up to its 30th anniversary of the start of operation and is currently licensed for 10 more years, although there are plans under discussion to extend its life for another 20 years or even more.

Thanks to Joyce for organising and to the Visitor Centre staff for making our visit so enjoyable and informative.