EDF nuclear plants get five-year life extensions

Hartlepool and Heysham 1 sites will operate until 2019

EDF Energy is to extend the life of two of its nuclear power stations by five years, to 2019, with scope for additional extension at a later stage. 

The decision will safeguard 700 jobs at both the Hartlepool and Heysham 1 sites.

EDF said that extending the lives of its nuclear plants had remained a strategic priority since it bought British Energy almost two years ago. But the move has only been made possible since engineers solved a design problem with the hot box dome within the ageing reactors.

Load was reduced on Heysham 1 Reactor 2 to approximately 80% in October 2006 to reduce the surface temperature on the hot box dome, a facility which separates the cooler, high-pressure gas from the hotter gas which is sent to the boilers, to below 380°C. EDF said the degradation mechanism in that part of the reactor had the potential, if not resolved, to limit the output of the remaining reactors at Heysham 1 and Hartlepool. During 2010 Heysham 1 Reactor 2 has been running at approximately 70% of full load.

Since then, an engineering team has worked towards resolving the issue and EDF said it now believed that it had a solution which would allow load on Heysham 1 Reactor 2 to be increased to greater than 90% of full load and to significantly reduce the risk of future load restrictions over the extended life of the remaining reactors at Heysham 1 and Hartlepool. EDF declined to comment on the specific nature of the modification to the hot box dome, but said that it would be providing details to the relevant nuclear safety authorities and intended to implement the solution during outages over the next few years.

EDF said: “Having completed the necessary technical and economic evaluation and received the relevant external consents, the decision has been made to extend the lives of Hartlepool and Heysham 1 power stations by five years to 2019. Further studies will be conducted by 2016 regarding the potential for additional life extension beyond 2019.”