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Published:
November 18, 2006
Hinkley
Point to partially re-open in January 2007, says British Energy
 Hinkley
Point power station near Burnham-On-Sea will re-open in January,
it was announced by British Energy on Friday.
As
previously reported,
both the station's two advanced gas-cooled reactors are currently
shut down after cracks were found in a reactor's graphite core
and in boiler pipes.
While
British Energy confirmed that the reactors would return to action
at the start of 2007, it also said they would generate only 70
per cent of their normal capacity.
This
is to reduce wear on the plant, it said, which normally produces
3 per cent of the whole UK's electricity.
Burnham-based
campaigners have expressed their concerns about the re-opening
of the station.
 Angela
Wicks from the Parents
Concerned About Hinkley group said in a recent statement:
"The station is 30 years old and clearly at the end of its
life."
"We
should not put profits above public safety. The station should
be closed down permanently and we should look at cleaner and safer
ways of getting our energy in future. We owe this to our children."
But
British Energy says that the cracks are within its safety plan
and the decommissioning date for the station remains 2011.
A
statement from the company stated: "The graphite cores are
made up of a number of graphite bricks arranged in layers. It
is accepted... that cracks will occur in some of the bricks as
part of the normal aging process within the graphite reactor core."
RELATED
LINKS:
Parents
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'may never re-open' say campaigners
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Hinkley
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