Released August 12, 2014 | GALWAY, IRELAND
en
Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--EDF Energy (London, England) has shut four U.K. nuclear reactors after a fault was discovered at a boiler spine at Unit 1 of its Heysham 1 nuclear power plant in Lancashire, England.
The company revealed that it shut the reactor in June and then halted the second reactor there too as a precaution. Two reactors at the Hartlepool nuclear power plant in County Durham, in the north east of England, have also been shut for further inspections.
Last week, Industrial Info reported that EDF's Hunterston B nuclear reactor, located in North Ayrshire, Scotland was taken offline for one of its biggest service and maintenance overhauls. The unit will be out of action until October. For additional information, see August 11, 2014, article - Hunterston B Nuclear Plant Begins Overhaul.
The company said that during the Heysham 1 Reactor 1 planned statutory outage in 2013, an "unexpected result" was found during routine ultrasonic inspection of a boiler spine. After this, Heysham 1 Reactor 1 was returned to service early in 2014 on reduced load, with the affected boiler quadrant isolated pending further investigations to confirm the source of the unexpected inspection result. However, in June this year, more detailed inspections revealed a "defect in the location indicated by the initial findings" and it will remain shut down while work continues to characterize the nature of the defect.
"Although routine inspections of other boiler spines have not previously indicated any similar defects EDF Energy has taken the conservative decision to shut down Heysham 1 Reactor 2 and Hartlepool Reactors 1 and 2 that are of similar design over the next few days to carry out further inspections in order to satisfy itself and the Regulator that the reactors can be safely returned to service," EDF stated. "Until the results of the further inspections are known it is not possible to advise exact return to service dates for these four reactors, however, an initial estimate is that these investigations will take around eight weeks. EDF Energy's other nuclear power stations are not affected by this issue as they are of a different design."
Heysham 1 has encountered a few problems over the past year. In January, it was taken offline because of a faulty boiler pump while last May the reactor had to be taken offline when smoke was seen coming from plant.
View Plant Details - 1078455 1078388
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, three offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.
The company revealed that it shut the reactor in June and then halted the second reactor there too as a precaution. Two reactors at the Hartlepool nuclear power plant in County Durham, in the north east of England, have also been shut for further inspections.
Last week, Industrial Info reported that EDF's Hunterston B nuclear reactor, located in North Ayrshire, Scotland was taken offline for one of its biggest service and maintenance overhauls. The unit will be out of action until October. For additional information, see August 11, 2014, article - Hunterston B Nuclear Plant Begins Overhaul.
The company said that during the Heysham 1 Reactor 1 planned statutory outage in 2013, an "unexpected result" was found during routine ultrasonic inspection of a boiler spine. After this, Heysham 1 Reactor 1 was returned to service early in 2014 on reduced load, with the affected boiler quadrant isolated pending further investigations to confirm the source of the unexpected inspection result. However, in June this year, more detailed inspections revealed a "defect in the location indicated by the initial findings" and it will remain shut down while work continues to characterize the nature of the defect.
"Although routine inspections of other boiler spines have not previously indicated any similar defects EDF Energy has taken the conservative decision to shut down Heysham 1 Reactor 2 and Hartlepool Reactors 1 and 2 that are of similar design over the next few days to carry out further inspections in order to satisfy itself and the Regulator that the reactors can be safely returned to service," EDF stated. "Until the results of the further inspections are known it is not possible to advise exact return to service dates for these four reactors, however, an initial estimate is that these investigations will take around eight weeks. EDF Energy's other nuclear power stations are not affected by this issue as they are of a different design."
Heysham 1 has encountered a few problems over the past year. In January, it was taken offline because of a faulty boiler pump while last May the reactor had to be taken offline when smoke was seen coming from plant.
View Plant Details - 1078455 1078388
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, three offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.
