Sizewell B starts generating again

Sizewell B has been reconnected to the grid to once again to deliver low carbon power to 2.5 million homes. 

The power station was brought offline for planned refuelling and maintenance work which began on 16 April 2021.  During that time a third of the fuel was replenished and thousands of maintenance tasks have been completed.  

Robert Gunn, Sizewell B Station Director said: “It is the completion of maintenance work and refuelling that ensures we can keep the lights on for another eighteen months.  I am particularly grateful to the Sizewell B team, including our excellent contract partners, for their commitment to a first class job and the local community for their support during this time.” 

The station delayed the start of this particular outage and reduced the scope of work and number of contractors required because of the pandemic.  However, significant work completed included replacing 15 thermal sleeves under the reactor pressure vessel head, maintenance of the steam turbines and generators, and routine servicing of valves, pumps, and motors, together with a full suite of testing for another operating cycle.  

In line with normal practice, when the maintenance and refuelling work is complete at Sizewell B, we submitted a safety case to our independent Regulator, the ONR, seeking permission to restart which was only granted when the regulator was satisfied that it is safe to do so.

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