Life of Sizewell B extended by another 20 years

Life of Sizewell B extended by another 20 years

ByVikki Irwin

Suffolk political reporter

A nuclear power plant on the East Coast will produce electricity for a further 20 years after a deal was reached between its owner EDF and the government.

Sizewell B, near Leiston, Suffolk, started operating in 1995 and was due to reach the end of its life in 2035, but will now continue operating until 2055.

Robert Gunn, station director of Sizewell B, said the deal would ensure hundreds of jobs were safeguarded.

But Chris Wilson, from the campaign group Together Against Sizewell C (TASC), said future generations would be left dealing with the financial and environmental impact.

EDF runs Sizewell B and employs 620 staff and about 300 contractors at the plant.

The agreement will enable about £800m of plant investment by EDF, with the agreement due to be finalised later in the year.

Sizewell B is the country's only pressurised water reactor and provides energy to more than two million homes, producing 3% of the UK's energy.

According to EDF, the extension to its life would generate enough electricity to meet the needs of every home in East Anglia for almost 45 years.

Gunn said "major plant modifications and upgrades" would be made.

"Securing another 20 years also safeguards existing jobs and allows us to continue to recruit another generation of Suffolk young people for the nation's nuclear renaissance," he added.

The government has described keeping the plant open until 2055 as "good news", while Sir Patrick Vallance, minister for science, innovation, research and nuclear, said extending the life of a nuclear plant was a " normal thing to do".

"It means we've got more clean electricity for that period," he said.

"That's two and a half million homes' worth of electricity and 900 jobs."

Wilson said TASC applauded the goal to phase out fossil fuels, but condemned "the government's continued reliance on dirty and dangerous nuclear power".

He said this created a "multi-generational financial and environmental liability", leaving our descendants with years of flood defence maintenance and the "insurmountable challenge of safe, millennia-long, highly radioactive nuclear waste isolation, amid a changing climate".

"Global instability and conflicts in Iran and Ukraine have highlighted that nuclear power plants and their waste facilities are highly vulnerable targets, undermining their promise of energy security," he added.

"Relying on Sizewell B and C for a combined output of 4.4 GW concentrates immense power generation in East Suffolk, making the area a prime target for malicious attacks with potentially catastrophic environmental consequences.

"Furthermore, TASC believes this centralization increases the national grid's exposure to massive blackouts caused by a single accident or technical failure."

A spokesperson for the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), the country's independent statutory regulator for nuclear safety, said it worked "constructively with EDF on their plans to extend the life of the nuclear plants by reviewing technical and safety case considerations while ensuring it achieves the required standards of safety and security in the most practical way."

It added: "The ongoing safety and security of operations at any nuclear site must be fully demonstrated to us as part of ongoing regulation which will be informed by our extensive, proportionate and targeted inspection and assessment regime."

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