Energy crisis: EDF forced to redesign UK reactors after horror leaks at Chinese sites
https://politicsthisweek.wordpress.com/2022/07/28/not-the-bcfm-politics-show-presented-by-tony-gosling-99/
FRENCH state-owned energy firm EDF has been forced to redesign Britain's upcoming flagship reactors after leaks in China.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1645421/energy-crisis-edf-forced-to-redesign-hinkley-point-c-epr-nuclear-reactor-taishan-leak
By Antony Ashkenaz - 10:04, Mon, Jul 25, 2022 The company announced that it would change the way fuel rods are held in place in their flagship new EPR generators, following reports of fuel cell damage that forced a nuclear power plant with the same design in China to shut down. Last year, state owned China General Nuclear (CGN) announced that the EPR reactor at the Taishan plant, about 80 miles west of Hong Kong, was shut down for “maintenance” after cracks in the fuel rods were discovered.
In a statement in Chinese on its website, CGN said: "A small amount of fuel damage has occurred during the operation of Unit 1, but it is still within the allowable range of technical specifications, and the unit can continue to operate stably.
"Combined with the start of construction of the power grid ... we chose this time to shut down for maintenance.“
EDF, along with CGN as a junior partner, is currently building the Hinkley Point C reactor in Somerset and is currently negotiating plans to build a second station, Sizewell C in Suffolk, both of which use the same EPR reactor design.
As the UK invests heavily in nuclear energy in a bid to end its reliance on fossil fuels, EDF’s EPR reactors have come under increased scrutiny.....
Hinkley B: Generations of workers mark nuclear plant's shutdown
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-62349971
Workers at the Hinkley B nuclear power site have been marking the plant's closure, as the reactor is switched off after 46 years.
"It's the end of an era. We'll go from making electric to making flasks [of nuclear waste]," said Pete Bryan, who has clocked up 34 years at the site.
The workers who ran the plant will now stay on for the next few years to help decommission the site.
Paul Gallagher, whose two brothers and daughter also work there, said he was "fortunate" to have spent 12 years on the site.
Mr Gallagher has enjoyed his time working at Hinkley B
"The company looked after the employees well, and that's not the corporate view that's my view.
"It's in such a beautiful part of the country so why wouldn't you want to work here?
"It will be sad to see a station and plant that is in good shape not generating any more," he said.
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