The Anonymous Widower

Hartlepool Nuclear Reactor Moves To UK Regulatory Assessment

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Northern Echo.

This is the sub-heading.

Plans for a new generation of nuclear power stations moved closer after the Government approved the next regulatory stage for an advanced reactor planned for Hartlepool

These two paragraphs add more details.

The approval follows a partnership between X-energy and Centrica to build a new generation of UK nuclear power stations using Xe-100 Advanced Modular Reactors, starting in Hartlepool.

On the partnership’s first anniversary, the Government directed regulators to begin assessing X-energy’s Xe-100 reactor under the Generic Design Assessment, a major step towards commercial licensing in the UK.

This Google Map shows the area around the current Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station.

Note.

1. Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station is indicated by the red arrow.
2. Hartlepool serves as a major industrial, manufacturing, and logistics hub supporting offshore wind farms rather than a landing point for their electricity grid connections.
3. Full details of the current nuclear power station is given in its Wikipedia entry, but here’s a summary.
4. It is an Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactor, which uses carbon dioxide for cooling.
5. It was commissioned in 1983.
6. It is scheduled to be closed in 2030.
7. It produces 1,185 MW of electricity.
8. The current site has rail access from the Durham Coast Line.

Nothing is said in the article about the capacity or the timescale for building the new power station.

What Will Be The Capacity Of X-energy’s New Nuclear Power Station At Hartlepool?

I took a quick look with Google AI and received this answer.

AI Overview

X-energy’s planned new nuclear power station at Hartlepool is proposed to have a capacity of up to 960 megawatts (MW), using a 12-unit deployment of its Xe-100 advanced modular reactors.

Project Details

Technology: X-energy Xe-100 high-temperature, gas-cooled small modular reactor (each individual unit generates 80 MW of electricity).

Configuration: A 12-reactor plant (“12-pack” multi-unit layout).

Location: Adjacent to the existing Hartlepool Power Station in Teesside, northeast England.

Timeline: First electricity generation is targeted for the mid-2030s, following the scheduled closure of the current operating plant.

That was an excellent answer, that gave me all I needed.

Hartlepool’s Rail Links

This OpenRailwayMap shows the Durham Coast Line and the rail links to the current Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station.

Note.

1. The orange track going North-South across the map is the Durham Coast Line between Newcastle and Middlesbrough.
2. Hartlepool station is indicated by the blue arrow.
3. A rail connection goes East from the Durham Coast Line to the Port of Hartlepool and the current Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station, which I believe is the big square building by the black line.
4. Hartlepool station is served by six trains per day (tpd) to and from London King’s Cross, with five tpd on Sundays.
5. All London services are operated by open access operator Grand Central Trains, who have new Hitachi Class 820 tri-mode trains on order for delivery in 2028.

Current timings are a few minutes over three hours, but I suspect that the new Hitachi trains could do the trip very close to three hours.

September 18, 2026 - Posted by AnonW | Artificial Intelligence, Energy | Centrica, Durham Coast Line, Google AI, Grand Central Trains, Hartlepool, Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station, Hartlepool Station, Nuclear Power, Port Of Hartlepool, X-energy, Xe-100 Advanced Modular Reactor(AMR)