U.K. nuclear power plant Sizewell B is due to return to service "within days" after an instrument problem closed the plant Tuesday, the chief executive of plant owner British Energy Group PLC (BGY.LN) said Wednesday.
"We expect the unit to return to service very quickly, within days," CEO Bill Coley told reporters during a conference call, adding the shutdown happened after an instrument in the plant measuring steam flow gave false readings.
The closure of the 1,200 megawatt nuclear power reactor was one of nine power plant shutdowns across the U.K. Tuesday and caused National Grid PLC (NGG) to call on generators to turn on their available capacity to make up for the shortfall in supply margins.
Prompt power prices surged around 30% late Tuesday on the National Grid warnings that there wasn't enough power-generation capacity to meet supply margin requirements for Tuesday afternoon into early evening.