The UK's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has formally advised the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate - the country's nuclear safety regulator - that it plans to extend the operating life at Oldbury nuclear power station, the NDA said Wednesday.
"NII has been formally informed that Oldbury is progressing with its plans to generate beyond 31st of December 2008," said the NDA.
"The licensee has submitted a safety case which is currently being assessed," the report added.
The NDA, the public body in charge of cleaning up the country's former nuclear power sites, said in November 2007 that it was investigating extending the life of both Oldbury power station, the country's oldest nuclear power station, and the Wylfa magnox nuclear power station in Wales.
The combination of a further two years of operations at Wylfa, in addition to a 12- to 18 months extension at Oldbury, could potentially generate about nine additional TWh said Mark Morant, president of
EnergySolutions' International Group, the firm that manages Wylfa, on November 26.
The NDA uses commercial income from its reactor operations to help fund its cleanup work.