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The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) gave EDF the all clear to return its Hartlepool and Heysham 1 nuclear plants to service following a three month shut down over safety concerns.
The discovery of a crack in the boiler spine of Heysham 1 in August this year led EDF to remove all reactors of a similar design as a precaution, but the regulator said on Friday that it is “satisfied” that the company has demonstrated the safety of the reactors.
All three of the reactors are currently undergoing normal pre-restart checks and are expected to return to service within the week, EDF said in a statement.
“The first two units are expected to come back on line over the coming days and Hartlepool Unit 1 will follow on from November 26,” EDF said on Friday 21 November.
EDF is required to issue the regulator with a separate safety justification for the return of the directly affected Heysham 1-1 unit which, pending the ONR’s approval, is expected to return by the end of the year.
Although the timely return of the units will help to ease tighter than expected supply margins for the coming winter, EDF has previously said that they will operate only at 75-80 per cent of their maximum capacity.
UK power traders told Utility Week that news of this week’s had little impact on the market because the returns were expected.
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