Hunterston B
The station will close in 2028 – two years earlier than previously thought
The French energy giant will now move into the defuelling phase of Hunterston B in North Ayrshire in Scotland
The current nuclear fleet has produced the equivalent electricity to power all the UK’s homes for 18.5 years, according to the Nuclear Industry Association
The two reactors at Hunterston B on Scotland’s west coast were taken offline in 2018 after cracks were found in the cores of both of them
EDF had planned to keep generating electricity from the 44-year-old facility until 2023 but says it will now move into the defuelling phase no later than 7th January 2022
The Big Six supplier said it needs to complete some additional technical analysis to support Reactor 3’s safety case
The Office for Nuclear Regulation said it is satisfied the reactor is safe to bring back to service for around four months of operation
About 370 hairline fractures have been discovered in the reactor bricks
Last year, it produced enough electricity for 1.8 million homes and avoided 2.5 million tonnes of emissions
EDF Energy has found cracks in key parts of its Hunterston B nuclear power plant. Today the energy generator confirmed cracks were found in two of the 6,000 graphite bricks in one of two Hunterston B reactors. Just two months ago EDF shut two other nuclear plants after finding a “defect” in a boiler spine […]