New Energy World™
New Energy World™ embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low-carbon technologies.
A key milestone has been met in the first phase of decommissioning the UK’s fleet of seven advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR) nuclear power stations, with the defuelling of the first reactor at Hunterston B in Scotland completed.
The reactor was defuelled on time and on budget, according to operator EDF, and work is now due to start on the nuclear plant’s second reactor.
The aim is to have the second reactor defuelled and all spent fuel sent to Sellafield by mid-2025, prior to transfer of site ownership to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) in 2026.
Commenting on this latest development, EDF’s Nuclear Decommissioning Director, Paul Morton, says: ‘EDF has invested more than £7bn in the UK nuclear fleet since acquisition in 2009. That investment has helped secure life extensions for these sites and maximises nuclear’s contribution to energy security. Now in defuelling, Hunterston B is setting the standard for the rest of the fleet and demonstrating the nuclear industry can deliver, working closely with key partners like Sellafield.’
EDF took responsibility for managing the UK’s AGR fleet in 2009 and signed a contract with the UK government in June 2021 to defuel all seven AGR stations, comprising 14 reactors, and Sizewell B, the UK’s only pressurised water reactor (PWR). Sizewell B is due to generate until 2035, with work underway to achieve a 20-year life extension.
Three of the seven AGR stations are currently in the defuelling stage – Hunterston B, Hinkley Point B in Somerset and Dungeness B in Kent.
Four AGR stations are still generating zero carbon electricity for the grid. Heysham 1 and Hartlepool are currently forecast to generate until March 2026. Heysham 2 and Torness are currently due to generate until March 2028.
Over the last 50 years, the seven AGR power stations have generated more than 1,800 TWh of zero carbon electricity. The carbon avoided by using nuclear instead of gas-powered stations is equal to nine years of UK car emissions, claims EDF.
New nuclear reactors like the European pressurised reactors (EPRs) being built at Hinkley Point C or planned for Sizewell C are designed differently to the AGRs. They will be built with decommissioning in mind and take about 20 years to decommission, notes EDF. This work will be financed by a Funded Decommissioning Plan (FDP), which ensures that the developer will meet the costs of decommissioning the plant and managing and disposing of its waste.
