Calder Hall nuclear power station

Calder Hall - the world's first nuclear power station

The brief

In 1956 the Queen opened the world’s first full-scale nuclear power station, at Calder Hall in Cumberland and no single advance in the power sector will ever be able to detract from the immense importance of this first, ground-breaking step forward.

When power surged from Calder Hall into the National Grid for the first time, the town of Workington became the first in the world to receive light, heat and power from nuclear energy.

At the time the government expected to save tonnes of coal by investing in the new technology and planned to supply about 10 per cent of the country’s electricity needs from nuclear power within less than a decade.

The solution

Calder Hall was a gas-cooled, graphite-moderated reactor and used the nuclear reaction in uranium rods to generate power. In 1953 the race to provide Britain with nuclear power had begun. In 1955 plans were put in place for a second identical power station to be known as Calder Hall B.

NG Bailey, instructed by the industrial division of designers at Risley was the pioneering electrical contractor chosen to deliver all lighting and small power for both Calder Hall A and B, beginning its enduring track record of supplying specialist engineering expertise to the nuclear power sector.