One of the reactors at Torness nuclear power station has been shut down due
to a problem with a valve.
The issue was discovered on Wednesday during routine maintenance at the
facility, near Dunbar in East Lothian.
Operator EDF Energy said the manual shutdown was carried out as a
precaution with no safety, health or environmental impacts.
Reactor one is still generating electricity and EDF expects reactor two to
be back online soon.
Station director Paul Winkle said: “Whilst carrying out routine maintenance
in the conventional turbine part of the plant, there was an issue with a
valve and our operations team took prompt action and manually shut down the
reactor, putting safety first.
“Cooling to the reactor was maintained at all times and there were no
safety, health or environmental impacts.
“The reactor will be returned to power as soon as maintenance is
satisfactorily completed.”
In February it was announced that Torness nuclear power station will have
its life extended by seven years, remaining operational until 2030.
The power station started operating in 1988 and now employs 550 full-time
staff plus around 180 contractors.
Its two nuclear reactors generate enough electricity to power more than two
million homes, according to the French firm.
WWF Scotland director Lang Banks said: “This might be the first unplanned
shutdown at Torness this year, but given similar incidents in the past few
years it’s clear that nuclear power is showing itself to be an increasingly
unreliable source of energy.
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“It underlines why Scotland is right to be choosing to harness more power
from renewable energy sources.
“So we can finally end our reliance on unreliable and unpopular nuclear
power and fossil fuels, as we approach the Holyrood elections we’d like to
see the political parties commit to making Scotland the EU’s first 100%
renewables nation.”
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