Four UK nuclear power stations have working lives extended

Four of Britain’s ageing nuclear power stations have had their lives extended as the country grapples with delays to new atomic plants of all types.
Despite safety fears over the country’s existing nuclear energy fleet, which began producing electricity when Margaret Thatcher was in power, EDF, the French state company that owns and operates them, has given the go-ahead for them to stay operative.
The news comes amid the delayed completion of the new twin reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset and no news on when a facility at Sizewell in Suffolk will materialise. A decision on which designs have made the final shortlist for small modular nuclear plants is now expected in spring.
The four UK nuclear power stations are capable of producing 4.6GW of electricity, enough to power millions of homes. EDF said they will — not for the first time — stay in commission way beyond their expected life spans.
The Heysham 1 plant in Lancashire and Hartlepool on Teesside will continue to produce power until March 2027, one year beyond their already extended lives. The Heysham 1 and Hartlepool plants were due to be closed this year but had already had their lives extended to 2026.
EDF said their fellow advanced gas cooled reactors at Heysham 2 and Torness in Scotland will remain in production until March 2030, beyond their planned closure in 2028.
Heysham 1 nuclear plant began generating in 1983 at the height of the Margaret Thatcher and Arthur Scargill-induced struggle over the future of Britain’s coalfields. Its neighbouring sister plant Heysham 2 went into production in 1988.
The Hartlepool plant, originally planned in the 1960s, finally went into production in 1985. The Torness plant was opened in 1988.
EDF is also behind the construction of Hinkley Point C and the planned Sizewell C facility.
In a statement, the company said: “Four nuclear power stations will generate for longer in a boost to the UK’s energy security and clean power targets.
“As well as bolstering energy security, the decision supports plans for the rapid expansion of renewables by helping to maintain grid stability. It also helps limit the UK’s dependence on imported gas.”
Mark Hartley, managing director of EDF’s UK nuclear operations, said: “When EDF acquired these stations in 2009 they were all due to end generation by early 2023 which would have left the UK with just one generating nuclear station at Sizewell B. Careful stewardship and around £8 billion of investment since 2009 has seen several life extensions for these stations and much higher output than was predicted.”
Ed Miliband, the secretary of state for energy and net zero, said: “These extensions are a major win for our energy independence.”
Sam Richards, chief executive of Britain Remade, a campaign to promote economic growth, said: “This is hugely welcome news. If the government and industry is to deliver a clean energy grid by 2030 it is essential that we keep as much nuclear capacity as possible.
“If we fail to do this the result will be the burning of more natural gas and more emissions released into the atmosphere.”