Britain closes 2 oldest nuclear plants

LONDON – The two oldest commercial nuclear power stations in the world were closed down Sunday after 40 years of service, the British Nuclear Group said.

Reactors at Dungeness A, southeast of London, and Sizewell A, in eastern England, were being shut down over a period of several hours, the group said in a statement. The reactors had reached the end of their life cycle and were less efficient than modern plants.

Britain’s 23 nuclear power stations supply around 20 percent of the country’s electricity