Exclusive, 20 January 2015
One of Scotland's nuclear reactors had to be unexpectedly shut down on Christmas Day because of a faulty valve, its operator has said.
In a letter to stakeholders yesterday, EDF Energy disclosed that reactor number 4 at the Hunterston B nuclear power station in North Ayrshire was taken offline just after 11am on 25 December "after an issue with a pneumatic valve when its air supply line failed".
"We decided to shut down the unit so we could carry out repairs and it was brought back into service on Sunday 28 December 2014 at 17.30," said the station director, Colin Weir.
Hunterston B comprises two nuclear reactors, numbered three and four, which can each provide up to 500 megawatts of electricity to the national grid. It is one of Scotland's two working nuclear power stations, the other being at Torness in East Lothian.
A copy of the letter to stakeholders from EDF Energy on 19 January 2015 is available to download here (229KB pdf).
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