Quiz of the day: In what decade did Great Britain join the United States and the Soviet Union as a nuclear power?

Quiz of the day: In what decade did Great Britain join the United States and the Soviet Union as a nuclear power?

General knowledge quiz question

Nuclear power in the United Kingdom generates around a quarter of the country's electricity as of 2016, projected to rise to a third by 2035. The UK has 15 operational nuclear reactors at seven plants (14 advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGR) and one pressurised water reactor (PWR)), as well as nuclear reprocessing plants at Sellafield and the Tails Management Facility (TMF) operated by Urenco in Capenhurst.

The United Kingdom established the world's first civil nuclear programme, opening a nuclear power station, Calder Hall at Windscale, England, in 1956. At the peak in 1997, 26% of the nation's electricity was generated from nuclear power. Since then several reactors have closed and by 2012 the share had declined to 19%. The older AGR reactors have been life-extended, and further life-extensions across the AGR fleet are likely.

In October 2010 the British Government gave permission for private suppliers to construct up to eight new nuclear power plants. The Scottish Government, with the backing of the Scottish Parliament, has stated that no new nuclear power stations will be constructed in Scotland. In March 2012, E.ON UK and RWE npower announced they would be pulling out of developing new nuclear power plants, placing the future of nuclear power in the UK in doubt. Despite this, EDF Energy is still planning to build four new reactors at two sites, with public consultation completed and initial groundwork beginning on the first two reactors, sited at Hinkley Point in Somerset. Horizon Nuclear Power have plans for 4 to 6 new reactors at their sites, Wylfa and Oldbury. Three reactors were also proposed at the Moorside Nuclear Project but the future of these is now in doubt. An agreement has also been made which allows for Chinese-designed reactors to be built on the site of the Bradwell nuclear power station.

EDF Energy owns and manages the seven currently operating reactor sites, with a combined capacity of about 9 GW. Six new plants are proposed to be built in the next few decades. All nuclear installations in the UK are overseen by the Office for Nuclear Regulation.

source: wikipedia