Dungeness Nuclear Power Station - Location

Location

The stations are built on the largest area of open shingle in Europe, measuring 12 km by 6 km, which has been deposited by the sea and built up over thousands of years. The entire area is moving slowly north and east as the sea moves the shingle from one side of the ness to the other. It is surrounded by a nature reserve Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). A fleet of lorries is used to continuously maintain shingle sea defences for the plant as coastal erosion would otherwise move shingle away at an estimated rate of 6 m per year. Around 30,000 cubic metres of shingle are moved each year. It seems that deposition on the north shore of the ness does not keep pace with demand. In all 90,000 cubic metres are moved each year along parts of the coast between Pett Level and Hythe. This is necessary for the safety of the entire area including the power stations. Approximately 100 million litres of cooling water are extracted and returned to the sea each hour, after being heated 12° Celsius (22 °F).

The relationship of the power stations with the ness in time is important. Geological history places the beginning of the promontory, some 3000 years ago, as shingle deposits offshore from Pett Level. From there the evidence suggests that the ness enlarged and migrated up Channel to its present position.

Importantly the ness and the coastline between Pett Level and Hythe are volatile. In recorded history Walland Marsh to the west of the power stations has been flooded. In the space of sixty years severe inundation occurred bringing the sea inland to Appledore and the original mouth of the River Rother from north of the ness at Romney to the south at Rye Harbour. The site is a few metres above Mean Sea Level and would be isolated in the event of flooding of the magnitude that submerged big areas of East Anglia and the Netherlands in 1953. Conjecture says that the ‘hurricane’ of 1987 did not bring the sea to the stations because there was a low tide at the time. It is claimed that Climate Change may cause more frequent and powerful storms (though this is unlikely) and that associated waves and surges are possible, though not probable and might increase the instability of the ness.