French energy giant EDF has ruled out extending electricity generation at Hinkley Point B power station, after a government minister suggested it could be a 鈥渟ensible precautionary measure鈥 to guard against potentially depleted gas supplies.
Culture minister Chris Philp said on Monday (May 30) the business secretary had been considering whether the plant in Somerset 鈥渕ight continue beyond its planned end of life鈥, with the facility set to be decommissioned from this summer.
Mr Philp鈥檚 intervention came amid reports that plans had been drawn up to ration electricity in the 海角视频, if European gas supply issues continue to deteriorate in the winter due to Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Philp told Times Radio Kwasi Kwarteng had also asked the country鈥檚 three remaining coal-fired power station operators to keep their power stations available, beyond the point of which they were due to be shut down, to prevent a possible 鈥渨orst case scenario鈥.
EDF told BusinessLive while it understood the speculation around Hinkley Point B鈥檚 future, it was not planning to delay defueling - the first phase of decommissioning.
It had added that it would only consider doing so 鈥渋f formally asked by Government and with the approval of the independent nuclear regulator."
Later on Monday EDF moved to further deny it had been requested to extend electricity generation at the facility, located on the same site as the under construction Hinkley Point C plant.
An EDF spokesperson said: 鈥淎s confirmed in November 2020, Hinkley Point B nuclear power station will stop generating and move into the defueling phase by 1 August 2022.
鈥淚t has reliably produced zero carbon electricity for over 46 years 鈥 more than 15 years longer than envisaged when built - and will complete its generating phase as the most productive nuclear site the 海角视频 has ever had.鈥
A Financial Times report also published later on Monday said EDF had said in a memo to staff that while technically feasible to extend Hinkley Point B鈥檚 operations 鈥渇or up to six months鈥, the time required to do so had 鈥渘ow run out".
A No 10 Spokesman told the PA news agency the government was not expecting the 海角视频 to experience power cuts this winter, or the need for energy rationing.
The spokesman added: 鈥淚 think you would expect Government to look at a range of scenarios to ensure plans are robust, no matter how unlikely they are to pass. Neither the Government or National Grid expect power cuts this winter.
鈥淵ou will know that we are in a fortunate position, we are not dependent on Russian energy imports and have one of the most reliable and diverse energy systems.鈥
Hinkley Point B was the first advanced gas-cooled reactor to generate electricity to the grid in the 海角视频. It started generating electricity in 1976 and since then has produced more than 310 terawatt hours of power - enough for 27 million homes for three years.
The plant currently employs 500 full-time EDF staff, as well as 200 full-time contract partners. The majority of the staff will be needed to defuel the power station until 2026.
Once in a fuel free condition the station will be transferred to Magnox, a subsidiary of government body the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
In 2012, EDF extended the estimated generating life of Hinkley Point B by seven years from 2016 to March 2023, more than 15 years later than originally planned during its construction in the 1960s.
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