U.K. nuclear power generator British Energy Tuesday said it had restarted four nuclear reactors, two at Heysham Stage 1 and two at Hartlepool nuclear power stations, following a 17-month outage.
The four reactors, which provide around 2,350 megawatts of electricity generation to the U.K. or about 4% of the country's electricity supply, were taken out of service in October 2007 after a planned inspection revealed some corrosion on wires which are part of the boiler closure units.
The first three units are operating at full load and the fourth reactor is being increased to full load in a planned power increase, British Energy said.
Reactor 2 at Heysham 1, the last of the four reactors to return to service, began supplying power to the grid Tuesday.
British Energy, the U.K. nuclear arm of Electricite de France (EDF.FR), took the opportunity to bring forward maintenance work, including the replacement of a generator stator and main generator transformer at Hartlepool and the replacement of some three kilometers of cast iron cooling water pipe work at both stations while the reactors were out of service.
Gwen Parry-Jones, station director at Heysham, said the restart of the last unit was "not routine." He said a robust recommissioning program was developed to return the unit to full power and address any equipment issues that may arise in the process. "The unit has been out of service for almost one and a half years," he added.
EDF Energy, the U.K. arm of Electricte de France, acquired British Energy in January 2009 and plans to build four new reactors with the first operational by the end of 2017, while investing in the existing fleet of eight nuclear power stations which provide the U.K. with about one sixth of its electricity.