Dounreay

Dounreay (/ˌduːnˈreɪ/;Scottish Gaelic: Dùnrath) (Ordnance Survey grid reference NC982669) is on the north coast of Caithness, in the Highland area of Scotland and west of the town of Thurso. Dounreay was originally the site of a castle (now a ruin) and its name derives from the Gaelic for 'fort on a mound.' Since the 1950s it has been the site of two nuclear establishments, for the development of prototype fast breeder reactors and submarine reactor testing. Most of these facilities are now being decommissioned.

History

Dounreay formed part of the battlefield of the Sandside Chase in 1437.

The site is used by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (Dounreay Nuclear Power Development Establishment) and the Ministry of Defence (Vulcan Naval Reactor Test Establishment), and the site is best known for its five nuclear reactors, three owned and operated by the UKAEA and two by the Ministry of Defence.

The nuclear power establishment was built on the site of a World War II airfield, called RAF Station Dounreay. It became HMS Tern (II) when the airfield was transferred to the Admiralty by RAF Coastal Command in 1944, as a satellite of HMS Tern at Twatt in Orkney. It never saw any action during the war and was placed into care and maintenance in 1949.