Hinkley Point B has a new boss

Hinkley Point B, the nation’s most productive nuclear power plant, is in new hands.

Mike Davies, who has worked at Hinkley Point B for more than 18 years, took over as Station Director last week. He had previously worked in the station's chemistry team, its operations department and has recently been steering the station’s preparations for defueling, the next stage of the plant’s life cycle. This phase will begin late in 2022 after Hinkley Point B's two reactors are switched off for the final time this coming summer.

In the past few days Mike, and his predecessor Peter Evans, jointly oversaw the preparations for, and then return to power of, Hinkley Point B’s Reactor 4. The reactor had been off for a round of inspections of its core, before it resumed generating electricity for the final time. It will now stay online until summer next year when 46 years of generation at Hinkley Point B will come to an end.

Mike said: “Hinkley Point B is a wonderful place to work and  I’m honoured to have been chosen by EDF to steer the station over the coming years. I'm also incredibly grateful for everything Peter has done to get Hinkley to the point it’s at now and for how much he’s taught me about effective management of this unique facility.

“Over the next year we have a huge amount of work to do. I’m determined we run the reactors safely, and effectively, over the next few months. We then need to carefully shut them down while we also celebrate the enormous achievements that our teams here, and all those that came before them, have made over more than 46 years of generating. Then we need to turn our attention to defueling this site as safely, effectively and efficiently as possible.

“There are challenges ahead but I know the talented and dedicated team at Hinkley Point B will get through them.”

His predecessor Peter Evans stood down after six years as Station Director at Hinkley Point B. In that time he’s raised tens of thousands of pounds for company charities, with staggering endurance challenges, and overseen the station through a remarkable period of generation. Early last year the reactors passed a major milestone when over 45 years of operation they’d produced enough electricity to meet the needs of every home in the UK for almost three years. The station still tops the UK nuclear fleet league table for the amount of electricity it has produced over its lifetime.

He said: “My time at Hinkley Point B has been some of the happiest of my career. I arrived in Somerset 13 years ago and quickly settled into life here and at the station. The people at Hinkley Point B are some of the loveliest, most welcoming people I’ll ever have the privilege of meeting and even though I’m a proud Welshman I’m staying in Somerset because I love living in Somerset.

“I will also never forget the remarkable efforts the team at Hinkley Point B has made since I took over. During my time at the top we have had some downs but we have had many more ups. And I’ve always known that I could depend completely on the remarkable family of nuclear professionals at Hinkley Point B to do what was required.

“But all good things must come to an end and I’m leaving this station and the team in the best possible hands.”