London (Platts)–24Aug2007The UK’s Oldbury-2 magnox reconnected to the grid August 23, operatorMagnox North said August 24. A fire and then turbine vibrations kept thereactor offline most of the time since May 30. Oldbury-2, one of the fourremaining operating magnox reactors, underwent a 23-month outage until May 27to determine the extent of graphite depletion in its core. It operated onlythree days before a May 30 fire on the non-nuclear side of the plant forcedits shutdown. It returned to service June 30, only to be shut again in early July following the turbine vibration problem.
Sister unit Oldbury-1 has been offline since August 31, 2006, alsounder going graphite weight loss checks. Its safety analysis work for return to service is with regulator Nuclear Installations Inspectorate. Oldbury-1 and -2 are due to close permanently in December 2008 and have experienced higher levels of graphite weight loss than the rest of the almost fully retired 11-station (26-reactor) magnox fleet.