British Energy has announced this week that it is to shut the nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point, near Burnham-On-Sea, later this year for further inspections.
Both reactors will be checked at some point this year which means they will have to be shut down unless already stopped for other work.
It comes after Hinkley Point was shut down for seven months for boiler repairs during 2006/7. It has been running at 60-70 percent of its capacity since being re-opened last Spring.
Campaign group Stop Hinkley claimed on Tuesday (February 5th) that the “fragility of sensitively-placed boilers” at Hinkley B may be behind the latest work.
The group claims boilers are housed inside the reactor pressure vessel alongside the nuclear reactors.
Jim Duffy, group spokesman, said: “It’s high time that Hinkley undertook inspections of its boilers. Cracked boilers plus cracked reactor core equals unthinkable risk. It would be better to shut it now.”
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