ONR wants safety limit raised at Dungeness B
A key safety limit at a nuclear power station is being raised to extend the life of the reactor, the BBC has reported.
The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has agreed to increase the amount of weight that graphite bricks at the core of the reactor at Dungeness B in Kent will be allowed to lose.
The graphite bricks are integral to UK nuclear power stations and act to moderate the nuclear reaction. The bricks, which are vital for safety, cannot be replaced which means they are being carefully monitored as the reactors age.
They become damaged through years of intense bombardment by radiation and effects of the coolant CO2 on the material.
The nuclear reactor at Dungeness B would have breached the safety margin within months, which could have forced the ONR to prosecute or shut it down.
The safety margins cover thousands of graphite bricks at the core of Britain’s 14 elderly Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors (AGRs).
The bricks, each about a metre in height, are both cracking and starting to lose weight due to decades of radiation, which could affect safety.
The current graphite weight loss limit for Dungeness is set at 6.2 per cent but the regulator says when it reached 5.7 per cent its operator, French power giant EDF, applied to raise it to 8 per cent.
Mark Foy, deputy chief inspector at ONR said: “We will be in a position to agree that 8 per cent limit within the next few weeks. Ageing is a nuclear safety issue.”
Steve Thomas, professor of energy policy at the University of Greenwich, said: “It doesn’t feel good when we come up against limits and the first thing [the ONR] do is move the goalposts.”
In shifting the graphite limit, Dungeness can still run only until the start of 2020, but that is still three years fewer than EDF would like and it may have to request a second increase in the safety limit.
ONR wants safety limit raised at Dungeness B
A key safety limit at a nuclear power station is being raised to extend the life of the reactor, the BBC has reported.
Safety & Health Practitioner
SHP - Health and Safety News, Legislation, PPE, CPD and Resources
Related Topics
Breathing Apparatus policy for firefighters could be changed after it was branded ‘dangerous and irresponsible’
Editor’s pick: Events not to miss at Safety & Health Expo this May!
WATCH: Is there a lack of ethnic and cultural diversity in leadership in security & safety?
