A new boss has been appointed to lead Hinkley Point B power station in Somerset.
Mike Davies, who has worked at the plant in Bridgwater for more than 18 years, has taken over as station director from Peter Evans.
Hinkley Point B was the first advanced gas-cooled reactor to generate electricity to the grid in the 海角视频, and employs 535 full-time EDF staff, as well as 220 full-time contract partners.
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Mr Davies previously worked in the station's chemistry team; its operations department; and, most recently, has been steering the station’s preparations for defueling - the next stage of the plant’s life cycle.
This phase will begin late in 2022 after Hinkley Point B's two reactors are switched off for the final time this coming summer.
In the past few days, Mr Davies and Mr Evans have jointly overseen the preparations for, and then return to power of, Hinkley Point B’s Reactor 4. The reactor has been off for a round of inspections of its core, before it resumes generating electricity for the final time. It will now stay online until summer next year when 46 years of generation at Hinkley Point B will come to an end.
Mr Davies said: “Hinkley Point B is a wonderful place to work and I’m honoured to have been chosen by EDF to steer the station over the coming years.
"I'm also incredibly grateful for everything Peter has done to get Hinkley to the point it’s at now and for how much he’s taught me about effective management of this unique facility."
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Mr Davies said his team had a "huge amount" of work to do and that he was "determined" to run the reactors safely over the next few months.
He added: "We then need to carefully shut them down while we also celebrate the enormous achievements that our teams here, and all those that came before them, have made over more than 46 years of generating.
"Then we need to turn our attention to defueling this site as safely, effectively and efficiently as possible. There are challenges ahead but I know the talented and dedicated team at Hinkley Point B will get through them.”
EDF said Mr Evans, who stepped down after six years in the role, had overseen the station through a "remarkable period" of generation during his time as station director.
“My time at Hinkley Point B has been some of the happiest of my career," said Mr Evans.
"The people at Hinkley Point B are some of the loveliest, most welcoming people I’ll ever have the privilege of meeting... I will also never forget the remarkable efforts the team at Hinkley Point B has made since I took over.
"During my time at the top we have had some downs but we have had many more ups. And I’ve always known that I could depend completely on the remarkable family of nuclear professionals at Hinkley Point B to do what was required."
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