Hunterston B nuclear power station closes after 46 years [View all]

[NNadir]

Hunterston B nuclear power station closes after 46 years

Electricity generation has ended at Scotland’s Hunterston B power station with the shutting down of Reactor 4, an advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR). Operator EDF says the power station produced enough electricity during its lifetime to power every home in Scotland for nearly 31 years.

The plant, which came online for the first time in February 1976, was initially expected to run for 25 years but had its generating lifespan increased to more than 45 years. The station’s other unit, Reactor 3, was taken offline in November.

“The contribution Hunterston B power station has made to this country cannot be underestimated. As well as providing stable, well paid employment for thousands of people in the North Ayrshire area, it has produced almost 300TWh of zero-carbon electricity,” said station director, Paul Forrest.

“Everyone here is proud of what the station has accomplished. We will pause to reflect the end of generation but we are looking forward to the future. We don’t just switch off the power station, close the gates and walk away. It will take time to defuel and decommission the site and we will continue to need skilled people to do this.”

Both reactors were taken offline in 2018 after cracks in their graphite cores were discovered during routine inspections. The UK’s Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) gave approval to restart Reactor 4 in August 2020 and Reactor 3 the following month. However they were taken offline again in 2021 for further inspections of their graphite cores, with the ONR then giving permission for them to be switched on for about six months of operation each...

I really liked these reactors; they will all shut in this decade, probably to be replaced by dangerous natural gas, the waste of which will be dumped directly into the planetary atmosphere with no commercially available way yet developed to remove it.

This dangerous fossil waste, the dangerous natural gas waste generated to replace Hunterston B, of course, drives climate change, which if we follow the extend the logic of the anti-nuke community is not too dangerous because in their mind nuclear energy is "too dangerous." Despite catcalls from the ignorance gallery, primiitve nuclear technology has been, by far, the most effective tool for preventing the use of dangerous fossil fuels for use in generating electricity.

The British were far more successful than the Americans with gas cooled reactors. The very first commercial reactor in the Western World, Calderhall, built in the early 1950s and shut in the early 2000's were gas cooled reactors.

The unique thing about British gas cooled reactors was that their working fluid was CO2. This I think, is experience well worth reviewing by future generations of nuclear engineers.

These reactors all operated on the thermal neutron spectrum, which is why they utilized graphite cores. I don't like graphite moderators, but hey, these reactors still saved lives that otherwise would have been lost to air pollution, climate change or both.

I am personally working to convince my son that gas cooled reactors are the way to go for thermodynamic reasons, although to my mind the heat network involved should use the fast neutron spectrum.

Well done Hunterston B!