The Sizewell B nuclear power station is set for a temporary shut down so maintenance work can take place.

The routine operation- or 'outage'- happens every 18 months to allow for fuel used in the reactor to be replaced and for engineers to carry out many other tasks to ensure that the plant is able to run effectively to deliver electricity to 2.5 million homes.

The station will also be celebrating its 28th birthday tomorrow (Tuesday), the day the outage begins.

Sizewell B's famous white dome houses the pressurised water reactor (PWR), which splits uranium atoms in a process called fission to create nuclear energy.

The energy created is intense - enough to power two massive turbines with shafts rotating at 3,000rpm.

The temperature inside the reactor can reach 260C and it is highly radioactive, meaning the shell of the dome is built to withstand a potential meltdown.

When the station is fully operational, it can pump out 1,200MW of electricity.