British Energy says August nuclear output up 3% on month

Thursday, September 2, 2010

British Energy said Wednesday that output from its 15 nuclear reactors reached 3.5 TWh in August, up 3% from July, following the restart of the UK generator's Dungeness B-21 reactor on August 19.

The 550 MW Dungeness B-21 unit in Kent generated power for the first time in a year in August, following an extended outage to repair a pipe adjacent to a boiler reheater.

Five of the UK's 19 nuclear reactors remained offline Wednesday, after planned and unplanned outages at several UK nuclear plants this year.

The 1,260 MW Sizewell B nuclear reactor in Suffolk has been offline since March 17 due to higher than normal moisture levels within the containment building.

Plant operator British Energy said on July 30 that the reactor "should" return to the grid during the third quarter of 2010.

The 660 MW Heysham-28 nuclear reactor in Lancashire has been offline since March 26 due to a distortion of the standpipe liner inner tube. In June plant operator British Energy said the reactor would "likely" return to service during Q3.

The 610 MW Heysham-11 nuclear reactor situated close to reactor 28 was shut on June 4 for planned maintenance, while BE's 460 MW Hunterston B-8 in North Ayrshire was also shut on July 30 for planned maintenance.

Finally, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's 540 MW Wylfa 3/4 nuclear reactor in Wales has been closed since April 6 for planned maintenance.

British Energy operates 15 of the UK's 19 nuclear reactors. The NDA operates the other four at Wylfa, Wales and Oldbury, South Gloucestershire.

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