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Nuclear power plant back online after £75m project

EDF Energy The inside of the Sizewell B nuclear power plantEDF Energy
Sizewell B was powered down back in October while a multi-million pound improvement project was carried out

A reactor at the largest nuclear power station in a county has been turned back on after £75m worth of improvement works were carried out.

Sizewell B Power Station, in Sizewell, Suffolk, has returned to service and is providing zero-carbon power to properties across the nation.

Its nuclear reactor had been taken offline in October so engineers could refuel it and complete various upgrades, including replacing a rotor system inside a turbine.

Robert Gunn, the station director, said: "Our teams have performed an amazing job. They completed 15,000 separate pieces of work across 1,500 pieces of our plant."

EDF Energy A diver holding onto the side of a platoon floating in the sea. The diver is wearing a diving suit and has there is someone in a high-visibility orange jacket helping him. EDF Energy
As part of the works divers were sent to inspect the plant's intake pipe

During the outage hundreds of extra workers arrived in the county to carry out the work, which also included inspecting the reactor's system and pipelines.

"We even sent divers to our intake pipe, which draws in the water we use in our operations, for inspections," added Mr Gunn.

"Because of this work we now have a hugely improved picture of what is happening in our plant and reactor.

"We plan to extend the life of our plant, beyond 2035 to 2055, so understanding what is happening inside all of our systems is vital."

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