Eight ageing nuclear plants could get a stay of execution

Eight nuclear power stations that were due to be closed in the next 10 years could be given a stay of execution and kept open, it has been reported.

Eight nuclear power stations that were due to be closed in the next 10 years could be given a stay of execution and kept open, it has been reported.

The UK's main nuclear operator, EDF, is believed to be considering putting Britain's ageing reactors through another 10-year safety test in co-operation with the Office of Nuclear Regulation.

The plans were disclosed on the eve of the Government's proposals to overhaul the energy industry.

A decision to keep the plants running will appear at odds with the Coalition's drive towards new expensive nuclear plants to meet short and medium-term energy demands.

The proposed Contracts for Difference (CFD), which will be unveiled today and guarantee investors a price for power generated by new nuclear or renewable means, have been described as a disguise for new nuclear power subsidies. But French-owned EDF told a newspaper that keeping existing nuclear plants open was a viable option.

"Extending the lives of our nuclear power stations makes absolute sense in terms of filling a short-term energy need while the country rightly continues towards aggressive decarbonisation targets," EDF said.

"Life extension helps with the very short-term risk but doesn't change the need or urgency of the new nuclear programme in the longer term.

"The fundamental need for new capacity remains - the inability of old coal to meet tighter emissions limits being the foremost factor."

Hinkley B in Somerset and Hunterston B in Ayrshire, which were due to close in 2016, would be the first that could undergo a periodic safety review to remain open.

The Office of Nuclear Regulation con-firmed that it had engaged with EDF over the possibility of extending its nuclear power reactors.

A spokesman said the regulator had no role in giving permission to keep a plant open but would have to ensure safety requirements were met. "It's a commercial decision whether a nuclear power plant continues to operate. We will be involved in helping them do that if that's what they decide to do," she said.

Critics said the decision to keep current nuclear plants open was "always on the cards".

Tom Burke, a former head of Friends of the Earth, said: "There never was a plausible energy security argument for building new nuclear. They thought it was a cheap way of getting a transformation to low carbon. [Life extension] buys us time for renewables and carbon."

There are 19 nuclear plants operating in Britain, according to data from the World Nuclear Association.

 

From The Daily Telegraph

Back to News