nuclear-news

Cracks in UK’s Hunterston and other very old nuclear reactors

Radio Scotland (From 1:41:33) 29th Aug 2020, Rob Edwards speaking about Hunterston. The lifetime of Hunterston has been extended 3 times. The problem is these very old reactors have developed all
these cracks.

Reactor 3 has an estimated 377 cracks. Reactor 4 has 209.
Those are only estimates based on looking at a part of the core. They have
underestimated the number of cracks that would appear in the past. If you
have too many cracks you get bits of debris breaking off so the graphite
core of these reactors start to crumble and that in some scenarios could
cause the core to overheat.

They are balancing how much money they can make
out of the plants against a leak. Climate change has been used by the
industry to try to make themselves look better. Hunterston has been closed
for most of the last two years.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000m50x

August 31, 2020 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, UK