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This snapshot taken on 07/08/2007, shows web content selected for preservation by The National Archives. External links, forms and search boxes may not work in archived websites.
The first commercial nuclear stations in the UK were of the Magnox type named after the magnesium alloy used to make the fuel can containing the uranium fuel. Magnox reactors use natural uranium metal as the fuel, have a graphite moderator and use pressurised CO2 as the coolant. Early designs have the core contained within a steel pressure vessel surrounded by a steel and concrete biological shield over one metre thick and have the boilers located outside the shield. Later designs have a steel lined pre-stressed concrete pressure vessel which also acts as the biological shield, with the boilers contained inside.
