Scottish Nuclear was formed as a precursor to the

privatisation Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

of the

electricity supply industry The electric power industry covers the generation, transmission, distribution and sale of electric power to the general public and industry. The commercial distribution of electric power started in 1882 when electricity was produced for elect ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

on 1 April 1990. A purpose-built headquarters was built in 1992 in the new town of East Kilbride. It consisted of the

nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics * Nuclear space *Nuclear ...

assets of the

South of Scotland Electricity Board The South of Scotland Electricity Board (SSEB) generated, transmitted and distributed electricity throughout the south of Scotland, including the former regions of Strathclyde, Lothian, Fife, Central, Borders and Dumfries and Galloway and a few ...

, which were later absorbed into the 1996 founded companies - Magnox Electric and British Energy.

Assets

* Hunterston A

Magnox Magnox is a type of nuclear power / production reactor that was designed to run on natural uranium with graphite as the moderator and carbon dioxide gas as the heat exchange coolant. It belongs to the wider class of gas-cooled reactors. The ...

Power Station (by then shut down) * Hunterston B AGR Power Station * Torness AGR Power Station

History

Background : before 1990

In the late 1980s, the 1955-founded

(SSEB), was one of the two major electricity generation and transmission companies in Scotland; other being

North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board The North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board (1943–1990) was founded to design, construct and manage hydroelectricity projects in the Highlands of Scotland. It is regarded as one of the major achievements of Scottish politician Thomas Johnston, ...

(now SSE plc). The SSEB generated, transmitted and distributed electricity throughout the south of Scotland, including the former regions of

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Welsh language, Welsh; in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic, meaning 'strath

alley An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, footpath, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane), or a path, w ...

of the River Clyde') was one of nine former Local government in Scotland, local government Regions and districts of Scotland, regions of Scotland cre ...

Lothian Lothian (; ; ) is a region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills and the Moorfoot Hills. The principal settlement is the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, while other signific ...

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

, Central, Borders and

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway (; ) is one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, located in the western part of the Southern Uplands. It is bordered by East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, and South Lanarkshire to the north; Scottish Borders to the no ...

and a few towns in northern England.

Scottish Nuclear : 1990-1996

On 1 April 1990, the nuclear generation assets (Hunterston A, Hunterston B and Torness Power Stations) of SSEB were vested with a new private company - Scottish Nuclear. The chairman of the company was Sir James Hann. The remainder of the SSEB assets were privatised as

ScottishPower Scottish Power Limited, trading as ScottishPower, is a vertically integrated energy company based in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a subsidiary of Spanish utility firm Iberdrola. ScottishPower is the distribution network operator for Central and ...

in 1991.

Breakup : 1996

In 1996, the older Magnox reactor - Hunterston A was transferred to Magnox Electric - established to own and operate a proportion of the old Magnox nuclear stations of Nuclear Electric. The assets of Magnox Electric were later combined with BNFL in 1998, and eventually operated and managed by US based EnergySolutions through its June 2007 acquisition of the BFNL subsidiary - Reactor Sites Management Company.BNFL sells Reactor Sites Management Company to EnergySolutions
June 2007 The remaining two advanced 'AGR' nuclear plant assets of the company were combined with the assets of Nuclear Electric; and became a part of the newly formed and soon to be privatised British Energy (now EDF Energy). Through the breakup, both the companies - Scottish Nuclear and Nuclear Electric became defunct; but is still extant through a descendant company - EDF Energy.

References