Hinkley Point B, near Burnham-On-Sea, will not return to partial operation until March, the power station operator British Energy said on Thursday.
The company had said earlier this week that one of the reactors at the plant would be back in operation by January 2007, however fresh delays mean it will not open for another three months.
“When we spoke earlier this week, January was still the target,” British Energy spokesman Martin Pearce told Burnham-On-Sea.com on Thursday (December 21st).
“However, the board of British Energy have since met when they made the decision to go for a more conservative date of the end of March.”
Both reactors will operate at 70 per cent capacity until March 2008, when they are scheduled to return to full productivity.
It comes after both the station’s two advanced gas-cooled reactors were shut down earlier this autumn when cracks were found in a graphite core and boiler pipes.
Burnham-based campaigners have expressed their concerns about the re-opening of the station.
RELATED LINKS:
Hinkley Point will partially re-open in January 2007
Parents group calls for permanent closure of Hinkley Point
Hinkley Point ‘may never re-open’ say campaigners
Cracks in boiler pipes force temporary closure of Hinkley Point
Earlier check-up for Hinkley Point power station
Hinkley gas release ‘posed no risk’ to people in Burnham
Hinkley Point ‘smoke’ sighting was a false alarm
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