EDF Energy has completed fuel removal from Unit 1 of the shut down Hinkley Point B power station in southwest England, the first in the UK’s fleet of 14 advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR) nuclear power plants at seven sites.
The UK Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) said it had overseen the operation as preparations begin to remove spent fuel from twin plant Hinkley Point B-2.
Hinkley Point B began its defueling phase in August 2022 after 46 years of electricity generation, the ONR said.
The reactor unit was shut down on 1 August 2022. Commercial operation began in October 1976, making Hinkley Point B-1 the first AGR unit to come online in the UK.
The ONR said that once Hinkley Point B-1 is fuel-free, the nuclear site licence will be transferred to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority for its subsidiary Nuclear Restoration Services to begin decommissioning work.
The regulator said it received on 9 September 2024 an application from EDF Energy to decommission the Hinkley Point B nuclear power station.
The application included an environmental impact assessment for the proposed decommissioning project which outlined measures intended to avoid, prevent, reduce, and, if possible, offset any significant adverse environmental effects, said the ONR.
ONR said it has launched a public consultation process on the application all stakeholders to help inform a decision on the application.
The current eight commercially operational AGR reactor units in the UK are those at Hartlepool A, Heysham A, Heysham B and Torness. They are forecast to stop generating in 2028, though EDF has said it would continue to review lifetimes to ensure these could continue to operate for as long as it is safe and commercially viable to do so.
The UK’s 14 AGRs are at Dungeness B (2 AGRs), Hartlepool A (2), Heysham A (2), Heysham B (2), Hinkley Point B (2) Hunterston B (2) and Torness (2).
Apart from Hinkley Point B, defueling operations are also being carried out at Hunterston B and Dungeness B.
