Six Out of Nine British Nuclear Power Plants Have Failed And Are Not Producing Electricity
London, UK - In January 2024, more and more nuclear power plants in the UK are failing and not supplying any electricity. Now, with the shutdown of Torness 1 with a gross capacity of 682 MW, another nuclear power plant has been taken off the grid. Of the nine British nuclear power plants still in operation (gross output of 6,500 MW), only three nuclear power plants with a gross output of around 2,500 MW are still in operation. The nuclear power plant outage totals six nuclear power plants with a capacity of around 4,000 MW (4 GW), which are currently not producing any electricity.
The nuclear power plant shutdown phase will continue in the coming years, with all eight old British AGR nuclear power plants still in operation due to be shut down. Only the Sizewell B nuclear power plant from 1988 will remain in operation.
However, EDF is currently examining whether and which nuclear power plant extensions of the old AGR power plants are possible. The reason for this is probably that the replacement nuclear power plant Hinkley Point C with a gross capacity of 3,240 MW (2 x 1,720 MW) will not be completed on time.
According to previous plans, the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant is scheduled to be online with Unit C1 on 1 June 2027 and Unit C2 on 1 June 2028. However, there are many indications that this already postponed schedule cannot be adhered to and that completion may be delayed until the end of the decade or beyond.
It is also possible that extending the lifetimes of the eight remaining British AGR nuclear power plants should prevent that only one nuclear power plant (Sizewell B) from remaining on the grid after they are shut down, meaning that no nuclear power could be produced in the UK at times in the event of maintenance or a failure.
Source: IWR Online, 17 Jan 2024
