Some students in year 8 visited EDF’s Nuclear Power Station in Hartlepool as a satellite event of British Science Week. Students found out more about how a gas cooled nuclear reactor works and saw how safety was the overriding priority on site. During the tour students got to see the reactor, boiler, condenser and transformer. They also found out about the 3 categories of nuclear waste and how the waste is processed.

This year we couldn’t go into the turbine room as maintenance was being carried out. The students got to go into a simulation of the main control room which is a replica used for training. A member of staff showed the students some of the alarms & switches & two students modelled shutting down a reactor in the case of an emergency.

After the tour students used electronics kits to model circuits and come up with ideas of how they could use technology to improve the lives of people with a disability or the elderly. They worked in groups & presented their ideas to the rest of the group. The winning team got a prize from EDF & all students got a souvenir.