No return to service for power stations

Jul 18 2008 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

BRITISH Energy says the return to service of its Hartlepool and Heysham 1 reactors may take longer than first thought.

The two nuclear power stations have been out of action since last autumn after wire corrosion issues were identified within boiler units.

Chairman Sir Adrian Montague told shareholders there had been some slippage to the programme and that the sites may not return until the third quarter of the financial year, covering the three months to the end of December. It previously forecast a phased return over the second and third quarters.

The company also said the cost of the project will be significantly higher than initial estimates of £50m for the current financial year. It plans to give a further estimate in a trading update on August 13.

Sir Adrian said: “This is a complex project involving many engineering disciplines, a variety of contract partners and bespoke technical solutions, and we now anticipate, given this complexity, that there will be some slippage in our programme.”

More than one million man hours have been spent on the issue, including the inspection and assessment of the wire windings on all 32 boiler closure units at the two locations.

“We are now undertaking final visual inspections before fitting the solution,” Sir Adrian added.