Showing posts with label though.pints.valve. Show all posts
Showing posts with label though.pints.valve. Show all posts

Tuesday 27 July 2021

Skulferatu #38 - Torness Nuclear Power Station, Dunbar, East Lothian

 

A postcard showing various views around Torness Nuclear Power Station.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Have a Nuclear Time at Terrific Torness!

 

Is it wrong to have a favourite nuclear power station?  Well, I do, and it is Torness Nuclear Power Station situated just a few miles down the road from the town of Dunbar.  It can be reached by car along the A1, or by walking out from Dunbar and then along the coastal path of the John Muir Way.  I took the coastal route and walked there, past Barns Ness Lighthouse, and along through the sandy paths with the sharp grasses that grow there.  Following the coast around I then came to the lime kilns at Skateraw and going up and over the hill by them, arrived at the coastal concrete walkways that lead round and past the power station and on to Torness Point and Thorntonloch Beach.

 

Wall and fields of tall grass stretching off into distance with the large structure of Torness Nuclear Power Station rising up in the background.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Rural walk to Torness Nuclear Power Station

 

Flat grass land stretching off into distance with the large structure of Torness Nuclear Power Station rising up in the background.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Rural walk to Torness Nuclear Power Station

 

Torness Nuclear Power Station as seen from Skateraw - a memorial cross rises from the tall grasses on one side and the structure of the power station dominates the other.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Torness Nuclear Power Station as seen from Skateraw

 

Torness Nuclear Power Station as seen from Skateraw - on one side of the bay is a bare rock surface leading to the water and on the other side is the power station.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Torness Nuclear Power Station as seen from Skateraw

 

The lower and upper walkway around the coast by the power station were constructed as a sea defence.  Part of this defence are the thousands of distinctive looking concrete blocks that rise up from the sea to the wall of the lower walkway.  These blocks are known as Dolos Units and are used as protection against the erosive force of the waves and rough seas.  They work by dissipating the energy from the wave by deflecting it to the side and thus lessening any erosion or damage. These blocks and the bare concrete of the walkways create quite a stark, yet dramatic feature in the landscape.

 

Torness Nuclear Power Station as seen from the walkway pier - at the front of the picture are the concrete Dolos leading down to a bay in which sits a lifeboat and on the other side of the water is the power station.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Torness Nuclear Power Station as seen from the walkway pier

 

Walkway and Dolos - a picture showing the grey concrete of the walkway, the wall around it and the concrete Dolos.  The sky in the background is bright with white clouds.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Walkway and Dolos

 

Lower walkway around grounds of Torness Nuclear Power Station.  Picture shows the concrete walkway and walls with a cloudy sky in the background.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Lower walkway around grounds of the power station

 

Torness Nuclear Power Station was the last of the United Kingdom’s second generation nuclear power plants to be commissioned, and it is one of the seven remaining nuclear power stations in the UK.  Like all the remaining nuclear power stations, Torness was built beside the sea, as nuclear reactors need access to large quantities of water to keep the core at a stable temperature.  The sea water is also used to generate steam to drive a turbine which in turn powers the generator.

 

Torness Nuclear Power Station - a picture showing the white structure of the power station and how it almost blends into the clouds above.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Torness Nuclear Power Station

 

Construction began on Torness in 1980 and by 1988 the power station had been completed and was generating electricity.  The power station has two Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors and supplies around 1,190MW (megawatts) to the National Grid.  In 2019 it generated more than 10TWh (Terawatt-hours), which was enough to power 2.5 million homes. 

 

Torness is expected to operate until around 2030 before being decommissioned.

 

I left the Skulferatu that accompanied me on today’s walk amongst the rocks forming part of the sea defences by the beach at the southeast side of the power station.

 

Torness Nuclear Power Station as seen from beach by Torness Point - picture shows sand dune and grass with the power station in the background with a sky of white clouds.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Torness Nuclear Power Station as seen from beach by Torness Point

 

Skulferatu #38 - picture shows a small, clay skull being held up with Torness Power Station in the background.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Skulferatu #38

 

Skulferatu #38 on rock by Torness Point - picture shows small, clay skull on a rock.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Skulferatu #38 on rock by Torness Point

 

Skulferatu #38 on rock by Torness Point - picture shows small, clay skull on a rock.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Skulferatu #38 on rock by Torness Point

 

Skulferatu #38 on rock by Torness Point - picture shows small, clay skull on a rock, amongst lots of rocks with Torness Nuclear Power Station in the background.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Skulferatu #38 on rock by Torness Point

 

Map showing location of Skulferatu #38
Map showing location of Skulferatu #38

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

 

Latitude 55.966443

Longitude -2.399051

 

I used the following sources for information on Torness Nuclear Power Station –

 

EDF Energy – Torness

Torness Power Station

 

Nuclear Generation in the UK

Published by EDF Energy

 

East Lothian Courier – 3 September 2020

 

Wikipedia

Torness Nuclear Power Station

Dolos

 

Article and photographs are copyright of © Kevin Nosferatu, unless otherwise specified.