Dungeness A is a legacy Magnox power station consisting of two 250 MWe reactors which were connected to the National Grid in 1965 and reached its end of life in 2006.

In September 2018, as both units were shut down for a scheduled maintenance outage, EDF encountered "significant and ongoing technical challenges" which ultimately led to the announcement of its closure on 7 June 2021.

The close proximity of the Appledore-Lydd-Dungeness branch to the nuclear power stations allow for a more direct route to and from major fuel fabrication sites all whilst minimising the use of road convoys thus lowering traffic impact on nearby communities.

[6] Similar to other legacy Magnox stations, the site will undergo decommissioning where radiologically contaminated equipment is removed and redundant structures demolished.

Once complete, the reactor buildings will be re-cladded to ensure they are able to remain an effective barrier to the elements and the facility will enter a 'care and maintenance' stage.

This waiting period allows for radiation levels within the reactor core to decline and helps to facilitate a smoother demolition process.

The £89 million contract was awarded in August 1965 to Atomic Power Construction ('APC'),[10] a consortium backed by Crompton Parkinson, Fairey Engineering, International Combustion and Richardsons Westgarth.

The cost of the modifications, and financing during the delays, caused severe financial pressures for the consortium and its backers, and in 1969 APC collapsed into administration.

The CEGB took over project management, imposed light penalties in order not to cripple Fairey and International Combustion, and appointed British Nuclear Design and Construction (BNDC) as main contractor.

The Dungeness B restraint couplings - mechanical linkages that held the graphite core in place whilst allowing it to expand and contract in response to temperature changes - were made of mild steel and could be subject to the same corrosion.

[15] Reactor 1 first generated power on 3 April 1983, 13 years behind schedule and at a cost of £685 million, four times the initial estimate in inflation-adjusted terms.

[27] In 2015, the plant was given another ten-year life extension, allowing an upgrade to control room computer systems and improved flood defences, taking the accounting closure date to 2028.

[29] In September 2018, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) directed that EDF Energy carry out a reassessment of corrosion of safety-related concealed systems.

Inspections showed that seismic restraints, pipework and storage vessels were found to be "corroded to an unacceptable condition", and that would have been the state when the reactor was operating.

[33] On 7 June 2021, EDF announced that Dungeness B would not be restarted and would move into the defuelling phase immediately, once regulatory permissions are granted, citing "station-specific risks within some key components, including parts within the fuel assemblies" identified since September 2018.

[40] The government did not include Dungeness C in its draft National Policy Statement published on 9 November 2009, citing environmental reasons and concerns about coastal erosion and associated flood risk.

[42] Despite these environmental concerns, local Conservative MP Damian Collins, supported by some residents, lobbied Parliament to reconsider that position.

[45] In the space of sixty years severe inundation occurred, temporarily bringing the sea inland to Appledore and the original mouth of the River Rother from north of the headland 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 large areas of East Anglia and the Netherlands in 1953.