Annual report and accounts 1990/91

Scottish Nuclear Limited is Scotland's nuclear power generating company. It supplies a substantial proportion of Scotland's electricity requirement. Vested with its assets on 31 March 1990, the company is owned by the Secretary of State for Scotland and supplies all of its electricity to ScottishPower (74.9%) and Scottish Hydro-Electric (25.1%). The company owns and operates the Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor (AGR) nuclear power stations at Hunterston on the Firth of Clyde and at Torness on the east coast of Scotland. It is also responsible for the decommissioning of the Magnox nuclear power station, Hunterston 'A'. This was Scotland's first commercial nuclear power station and closed, after 26 years of successful electricity generation, on 30 March 1990. Scottish Nuclear's first year of operation as a separate entity has been both eventful and successful. In one short year we have demonstrated a determination to challenge established thinking and prove that nuclear generation can be both safe and economic. At Hunterston'B', Reactor 3 passed the milestone of 50,000 GWR generated, the first AGR to achieve this record. Torness continued to operate well and made progress towards the final commissioning of the fuel handling plant. Initiatives have been promoted in Eastern Europe. Closer to home the relative merits of reprocessing spent fuel and other means of disposal are being examined. The financial result for the year was a net loss of Pound 32.5 million which represents a major improvement on the Pound 189.9 million loss reported last year. (author)