Oldest nuclear power station

The oldest nuclear power station still in use is Beznau I, which first became operational on 24 December 1969. A second reactor, Beznau II, became operational on 15 March 1972. Located in Döttingen, Switzerland, Beznau I was the first nuclear power plant in the country and is today operated by energy utility company Axpo. It uses a pressurized water reactor unit manufactured by Westinghouse Electric, using MOX fuel and with a capacity of 365 MW. It was originally designed to operate for up to 25 years, but after inspection work in 2010, ENSI – the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate – certified that Beznau I would not need to be decommissioned until around 2020. In Switzerland, nuclear power stations have no predetermined life span. The government instead stipulates that safety must be guaranteed at all times, verifiable by the power station owners and controlled by ENSI. However, the government considers that its five nuclear power stations have an operational life of 50 years. This means Beznau I will probably be turned off by 2019, Beznau II and Mühleberg by 2022, Gösgen by 2029 and Leibstadt by 2034.

Beznau became the record holder when the nuclear power station in Oldbury, UK, shut down on 29 February 2012.