Yesterday (24 April) EDF announced Hunterston B nuclear power station has been successfully defueled on time and on budget, in less than three years, following rigorous checks by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR).
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) group played a pivotal role in achieving this milestone, collaborating with EDF to enable spent nuclear fuel to be safely and securely removed from the site.
Over the past three years more than 4,800 elements of spent fuel have been removed then processed and packaged into large, specially engineered, transportable fuel flasks. These were then moved by Nuclear Transport Solutions (NTS) to Sellafield for long term safe and secure storage.
This milestone has been achieved whilst also continuing to support the defueling of two other AGR stations which have ceased operations and receiving and storing spent fuel from four operational stations, in support of the continued generation of low carbon electricity for the UK.
David Peattie, NDA group CEO, said:
This is a significant achievement for all those involved from the NDA group and the EDF staff including those at Hunterston B who worked tirelessly in partnership to make this happen.
We are primarily associated with the decommissioning of the UK’s legacy nuclear sites but this milestone gives us an opportunity to recognise the critical work we also do supporting defueling and keeping the lights on across the UK.
It’s a significant task and one that wouldn’t be possible without our dedicated and expert workforce which will grow further when we welcome Hunterston B into our group next year.
In the last financial year, the group delivered the highest number of fuel flask movements in 30 years totalling over 270 tonnes. NTS transport spent fuel via the UK rail network to Sellafield, where it is received at the Fuel Handling Plant (FHP) to be dismantled and transferred to ponds for safe and secure storage pending disposal.
Sellafield is also responsible for maintaining and repairing the fleet of 36 transport flasks used to safely transport the spent fuel.
Ciara Middlehurst, NTS co-CEO, said:
We’re proud to have played a crucial role in safely transporting spent nuclear fuel from Hunterston B to Sellafield, in which we safely ran over 200 trains to support its defueling.
This achievement underscores our commitment to providing safe, secure, and reliable nuclear transport solutions that support the UK’s energy infrastructure and environmental restoration programme.
In addition, the NDA group have worked with EDF and the supply chain to design and install an innovative new space saving storage rack at Sellafield, enabling 50% more fuel to be stored in its ponds.
It allows Sellafield to safely store all the remaining fuel from the UK’s 7 AGR nuclear power stations. Without these new storage racks, a new storage pond would have to be built, potentially costing the UK many millions of pounds.
The NDA is responsible for decommissioning the UK’s 17 earliest nuclear sites, removing the risks and hazards, so that eventually the sites can be released for other uses.
Over the next two decades, the NDA’s mission will expand to include the decommissioning of the 7 AGR power stations that are currently operated by EDF. Once all the spent nuclear fuel has been safely removed they will transfer into NDA ownership, via Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS) to continue decommissioning.
Dr Andrew Munro, NRS Managing Director for AGR and paired sites, said:
NRS is proud to be trusted with the upcoming decommissioning of Hunterston B, alongside six other AGR stations, and we’re working closely with EDF and the site team to ensure a safe and successful transfer of this first site next year.
With the welcome news that defueling is now completed and licence and permit applications recently submitted to regulators, we remain on track and are excited to take forward the important work of decommissioning the site for all our futures.
Hunterston B will be the first AGR station to transfer to the NDA group in 2026 followed by Hinkley Point B later the same year. The other sites will be Dungeness B, Hartlepool, Heysham 1, Heysham 2 and Torness.
