Cracks found in Hunterston nuclear rector
BY RECORD REPORTER ALARMING pictures have emerged of cracks in the graphite bricks at the core of a nuclear reactor.
Reactor three at Hunterston B Power Station has not produced any electricity since the defects were found to be forming more quickly than expected.
Investigators discovered about 370 hairline fractures – the equivalent of roughly one in 10 bricks at the core of the Ayrshire reactor.
The station’s owner, EDF Energy, aims to seek permission from the Office of Nuclear Regulation (ONR) to restart the facility.
But first it has to prove it can still shut down the reactor in all circumstances – including an earthquake.
The graphite bricks form vertical channels in the reactor where the nuclear fuel is housed.
They are set beside narrower channels where control rods can be dropped into place to regulate the rate of nuclear fission.
Station director Colin Weir said: “Nuclear safety is our overriding priority and reactor three has been off for the year so that we can do further inspections.
“We’ve carried out one of our biggest ever inspection campaigns on reactor three, we’ve renewed our modelling, we’ve done experiments and tests and we’ve analysed all the data from this to produce our safety case that we will submit to the ONR.”
The company accepts the cracking is “life-limiting” for the reactor but won’t say the point at which it will be unsafe to operate.
Concerns have also been raised about the consequences for local jobs if Hunterston closed early.
It supports around 700 posts.