Hinkley Point B nuclear plant could be saved from imminent closure
Nuclear power advocates agree that Energy Minister Quasi Quarteng is looking to extend the life of the Hinkley Point B plant to help Britain move away from gas imports and prevent a rapid decline in Britain’s nuclear reactors fleet. is open to
Rising gas prices and the war in Ukraine have already prompted the government to ask coal power plant owners to stay open longer, while ministers have also reneged on their staunch opposition to fracking in light of energy supply concerns. took into account.
There is growing sentiment among the nuclear industry and its supporters that Quarteng may also be persuaded to extend the life of Hinkley Point B by up to 18 months, which is due to stop generating electricity this summer.
Such a plan, which would chime in with Boris Johnson’s support for new nuclear in a recent energy security plan, would put 1GW of electricity generation on the national grid in the short term, requiring gas-powered generation for 1.5m homes. ,
Conservative MP Ian Liddell-Gringer, whose Bridgewater and West Somerset constituencies include Hinkley, said he had spoken to Quarteng about the possibility and that he was “definitely” open to it. “Kwasi is no fool,” he said.
“He understands the stresses and strains we are going through and that we need to see everything we can. He is acutely aware that [Hinkley] B station is enabled. She is old but she is in good health.”
Hinckley’s owner, EDF Energy, must present a safety case to extend the life of a grid-connected power station in 1976 and whose completion had previously been postponed for seven years in 2012.
EDF must prove to the Office of Nuclear Regulation (ONR) that aging graphite rods can be inserted into the plant’s reactors, even in the event of a massive and unprecedented earthquake, to prevent a nuclear accident.
A nuclear industry source said there was a “six-week window” during which EDF could still make that case in time to decide on the safety of the plans for ONR and Hinkley scheduled to generate electricity at 15. Can postpone the end. july.
Greg Hands, a junior minister in Quarteng’s Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), visited Hinckley last week. Engineers there are understood to have told Hands that they expected the plant to shut down as scheduled.
But the nuclear industry source said that while engineers were naturally focused on the shutdown plans they had been working on for several months, senior EDF figures were likely to be more open to extending Hinckley’s life. .
The ONR will ultimately decide whether such a plan can go ahead but Quarteng’s approval is important. This is because putting together a security case for an extension to the EDF would incur significant costs and would require trust that ministers would not block it.
The EDF declined to comment on whether it was planning to do so. BEIS said that it has not discussed any such proposal. “it [extending Hinkley] Will prevent you from importing a part of the gas,” said the nuclear industry source.
The Guardian also understands that Tornes, near Dunbar, and Hesham 2 in Lancashire may come off the grid earlier than expected based on routine assessments of their graphite rod condition.
Their retirement has already been brought forward, with EDF saying earlier this year that they would stop production in 2028 instead of 2030. In theory, each station that operates for a year could replace more than 1bn cubic meters of gas imports.
While nuclear power has traditionally been expensive, the skyrocketing price of gas in recent months, fueled by the war in Ukraine, means that the £45 per megawatt hour EDF will receive from its nuclear contract is likely to increase the bulk of electricity in the wholesale market. Prices are far below.
Trade unions Prospect and GMB have also called for extending the life of Britain’s nuclear fleet.
The pressure on Quarteng to signal to the EDF that the government would support a plan to keep Hinkley Point B open comes against a backdrop of concerns that the capacity of Britain’s nuclear fleet could dwindle faster than thought.
Based on current projections for the retirement of reactors and the construction of new ones, the UK’s nuclear capacity will fall from 5.8GW today to 4.4GW in 2028, factoring in the construction of Hinkley Point C, but also the end of life at Tornes and Hasham. Is.
However, a 2028 completion date for Hinkley Point C, which is already over budget and behind schedule, is under review with forecasts for this summer.
