nuclear-news

How Torness will decommission and what it means for jobs.

.The power plant is due to stop generating by the end of March 2030. However, that will not
be the end of the story, with decommissioning work expected to get under
way there afterwards. A spokesperson for EDF, which manages the plant,
said: “Decommissioning happens in stages. “Removing all the spent fuel
from the reactors will take about four years and will be carried out by
EDF.

“The site will then transfer to Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS)
to carry out deconstruction. “It will take around 15 years to remove all
the buildings from site, with the exception of the reactor building.

“It will be left in situ, in a state called ‘Safestore’, for around 70 years,
until final site clearance.” The decommissioning staffing structure is
yet to be agreed at the power station, which currently employs about 550
full-time EDF employees, plus more than 180 full-time contract partners.

Staff consultation is yet to begin, but the spokesperson added: “Every
site is different but, as a rough guide, at Hunterston B, the number of EDF
staff being transferred to NRS is about 250, which is around half the
generation headcount. “This has been a managed reduction which has been
taking place over a number of years and has largely been accommodated
through redeployment, retirement and voluntary redundancy.

“During defueling, we will go through formal consultation with staff to see who
wants to stay at site and who would like to leave. “Decommissioning
offers lots of new opportunities, but we have found at other sites that not
everyone who works at a site during generation wants to stay and be part of
deconstruction. “Those who do want to stay and secure a role in the
decommissioning structure will transfer over to NRS.

 Herald 28th June 2025, https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/25260842.torness-will-decommission-means-jobs/

June 28, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | employment, UK