EDF has announced the decommissioning of its Dungeness B nuclear station will begin immediately after finding new faults at the plant.
The Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor has been offline since 2018 after problems were discovered during maintenance. EDF said that while many of the technical challenges identified had been overcome, new analysis has identified additional risks within key components, including the fuel assemblies.
The station was first connected to the grid in 1983 and was originally due to close in 2008. However, the last extension of its lifetime had signalled an estimated stop point of 2028.
The decision to move Dungeness B, which has around 500 staff and 250 contractors working on site, to the defueling stage, was first mooted in April, when EDF said it was exploring a range of scenarios.
Station director John Benn said: “This power station has been a cornerstone of life in Kent for decades. It is a very special place and the team has a real sense of family – we are part of the community.
“EDF has had to make a hard decision – but it is the right one. It gives our teams, our community and our business a clear understanding of the future.
“I’m enormously proud of everything the team at Dungeness has achieved. Our low-carbon electricity has helped Britain over the past four decades and we have provided this part of Kent with vital jobs for generations. This marks the beginning of the next chapter in this station’s story. We will now plan the defuelling operations, a job we expect will take several years, and one that provides ongoing opportunities for our staff and their specialist skills.”