Dungeness B power station maintenance gets underway

Businesses in Kent will receive a welcome boost just as summer comes to an end when hundreds of extra workers join the team at EDF Energy’s Dungeness B power station to carry out a £30m maintenance programme.

One of the two reactors at Kent’s nuclear power station, Unit 22, will be taken off the grid at the end of August for around 12 weeks to carry out a maintenance programme known as a ‘statutory outage.’

Station Director, Ian Stewart, said: “The outage will give us the chance to do inspections and carry out more than 12,000 separate pieces of work that are not possible when the reactor is operating.”

“This will help to ensure that Dungeness B can continue safely producing low-carbon electricity for 1.25 million UK homes until at least 2028.”

“We look forward to welcoming around 500 extra workers to the station who will also provide a significant boost to the local economy by staying in surrounding hotels and B&B’s, eating in restaurants and using local taxi firms.”

Statutory outages are carried out on each of the station’s two reactors every three years and are planned in advance with the National Grid to ensure that there is no impact on the national electricity supply.

The station is also currently recruiting for engineers and technicians who are interested in roles in operations and maintenance. Candidates can register their interest on the EDF Energy website at: www.edfenergy.com/careers

So far in 2018, Dungeness B has generated 5 TWh, providing enough low-carbon electricity to power an area similar in size to Kent and Sussex combined.

Reactor 22 statutory outage in numbers 

•           Takes place every 3 years on each reactor
•           Lasts 12 weeks
•           Requires 500 extra staff
•           Will include over 12,000 separate pieces of work
•           Part of a £30 million investment
 

Dungeness B in numbers

•           Started operating in 1983
•           First AGR* reactors in the UK
•           Two reactors with a capacity of 1120 MW
•           Already produced over 5 TWh so far in 2018
•           This is enough electricity for for 1.25 million UK homes

*AGR – “Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactors” are the second generation of British gas-cooled reactors. They use graphite as a moderator and are cooled primarily with carbon dioxide. Nuclear generation does not however emit any CO2.