nuclear-news

Is giving old reactors new life the future of nuclear energy?

Countries want to squeeze more electricity from ageing power plants to help meet
global demand, but the strategy has its own challenges. The Torness nuclear
power station on Scotland’s south-east coast is showing its age. Over the
past few years, cracks have started to appear in the graphite bricks
encasing the uranium-filled fuel rods.

The bricks are too difficult to replace, so engineers routinely lower microscopic cameras into the reactor to monitor the wear and tear caused by radiation. If the cracks start to
jeopardise the reactor’s ability to safely shut down during an extreme
earthquake or other disaster, it cannot stay open.

So far, so good. And the
plant’s owner EDF, the French energy group, intends to keep the station
running until at least 2030, 42 years after it opened in 1988. Station
director Paul Forrest is confident. “But if the graphite inspection
starts surprising us, we will change course,” he says.

His efforts are part of an urgent, global quest to squeeze more years of electricity out of
existing nuclear power plants to meet rising demand for low carbon power as
countries try to move away from fossil fuels. Most of the world’s
operating nuclear power plants, around 400, were built in the 1970s to
1990s and are now coming to the end of their projected lives or original
licence periods.

 FT 3rd March 2025 https://www.ft.com/content/91784663-eba2-48e6-a0a3-47e04774c5c0

March 5, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety