Planned statutory outages were carried out on Hartlepool Reactor 1, Heysham 2 Reactor 7, Hunterston B Reactor 4, Sizewell B and Torness Reactor 1.
Dungeness B began the year shut down to address a number of safety case challenges. On 7 June it was announced that the station would not return to service and would be moved to defueling operations with immediate effect.
At Hunterston B, Reactor 3 ended power generation on 26 November 2021 and Hunterston B Reactor 4 on 7 January 2022 as previously planned.
Both reactors at Hinkley Point B returned to service at the end of Q1 2021 with the intention to run each reactor for two six-month periods of operation, subject to a graphite inspection and further regulatory approval between each run. The decision was taken in 2020 to end power generation at Hinkley Point B no later than 15 July 2022.
On-load refuelling is suspended on all four reactors at Heysham 2 and Torness while modifications to a component of the fuelling machine are being pursued. It is expected that refuelling will therefore continue off load through 2022.
The statutory refuelling outage at Sizewell B was extended by three months to address the degradation of a number of control rod drive mechanism thermal sleeves. The station is now back at full load.
| Power Plant | Type of reactor | Start of Generation | Power Station Lifetime (Formally Declared) |
Life Extensions (Already Formally Declared) |
Associated Scheduled Closure Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hinkley Point B | Hinkley Point B Type of reactorAGR |
Hinkley Point B Start of GenerationFeb. 1976 |
Hinkley Point B Power Station Lifetime(Formally Declared) 46 years |
Hinkley Point B Life Extensions (AlreadyFormally Declared) 21 years |
Hinkley Point B Associated ScheduledClosure Date 2022 |
| Hunterston B | Hunterston BType of reactor AGR |
Hunterston BStart of Generation Feb. 1976 |
Hunterston BPower Station Lifetime (Formally Declared) 46 years |
Hunterston BLife Extensions (Already Formally Declared) 21 years |
Hunterston BAssociated Scheduled Closure Date 2022 |
| Dungeness B | Dungeness B Type of reactorAGR |
Dungeness B Start of GenerationApr. 1983 |
Dungeness B Power Station Lifetime(Formally Declared) 38 years |
Dungeness B Life Extensions (AlreadyFormally Declared) 13 years |
Dungeness B Associated ScheduledClosure Date 2021 |
| Heysham 1 | Heysham 1 Type of reactorAGR |
Heysham 1 Start of GenerationJuly 1983 |
Heysham 1 Power Station Lifetime(Formally Declared) 41 years |
Heysham 1 Life Extensions (AlreadyFormally Declared) 15 years |
Heysham 1 Associated ScheduledClosure Date 2024 |
| Hartlepool | Hartlepool Type of reactorAGR |
Hartlepool Start of GenerationAug. 1983 |
Hartlepool Power Station Lifetime(Formally Declared) 41 years |
Hartlepool Life Extensions (AlreadyFormally Declared) 15 years |
Hartlepool Associated ScheduledClosure Date 2024 |
| Torness | Torness Type of reactorAGR |
Torness Start of GenerationMay 1988 |
Torness Power Station Lifetime(Formally Declared) 40 years |
Torness Life Extensions (AlreadyFormally Declared) 15 years |
Torness Associated ScheduledClosure Date 2028 |
| Heysham 2 | Heysham 2 Type of reactorAGR |
Heysham 2 Start of GenerationJuly 1988 |
Heysham 2 Power Station Lifetime(Formally Declared) 40 years |
Heysham 2 Life Extensions (AlreadyFormally Declared) 15 years |
Heysham 2 Associated ScheduledClosure Date 2028 |
| Sizewell B | Sizewell B Type of reactorPWR |
Sizewell B Start of GenerationFeb. 1995 |
Sizewell B Power Station Lifetime(Formally Declared) 40 years |
Sizewell B Life Extensions (AlreadyFormally Declared) – |
Sizewell B Associated ScheduledClosure Date 2035 |
* As formally recorded by EDF Energy and approved by the NDA.
In the UK, radioactive waste is classified into four categories:
EDF Energy nuclear generation’s strategy for LLW and HAW reflects that the UK and Scottish Governments are focused on application of the waste hierarchy (reduce, reuse, recycle, recover). The use of a range of waste recycling and disposal routes will help to make the best use of the UK’s Low Level Waste Repository (LLWR) in Cumbria. Only a disposal route for LLW currently exists in the UK.
HAW is stored for the medium-term in safe, purpose-built facilities at EDF Energy’s stations while longer term national solutions are being established within England and Scotland.
Spent fuel from the AGRs is transported to Sellafield nuclear reprocessing site (owned by Sellafield Limited, a subsidiary of the NDA) for long term storage.
PWR spent fuel from Sizewell B is stored on site in a purpose-built spent fuel dry storage facility which will safely store all of the spent fuel that will be generated over Sizewell B’s life. Following long-term surface storage, the Sizewell B PWR spent fuel will be disposed to a future UK geological disposal facility.
The AGR spent fuel arrangements were agreed at the time of the restructuring of British Energy and through them EDF Energy pays for long term storage (and in previous years reprocessing) of spent nuclear fuel. Sizewell B’s fuel storage strategy is approved by the NDA as it is funded by the Nuclear Liabilities Fund. EDF Energy has policies to continually improve and minimise the spent fuel and waste arising through the company’s wider safety, sustainability and environmental policies.
