‘Shut it down’ demands as Torness nuclear plant breaches a safety limit

Demands have been made to shut Scotland’s one remaining active nuclear
power plant as it emerged a third of the central part of one reactor core
is cracked, sparking deep safety concerns. The Herald can reveal an
inspection from March estimates that in Torness’s Reactor 1 central core
area, there are 585 cracks in the bricks, which are key components for
cooling and keeping it safe and could increase the risk of a radioactive
accident.

The Herald has seen evidence of an agreed safety case for the
37-year-old Torness nuclear power plant as of June 2022, which supported
operation with up to 300 cracked bricks in a core reactor, similar to that
which led to the shutting down of sister power station Hunterston B. The
plant owners’ French energy firm EDF said that the safety case had been
superseded by an agreed new one in May 2024, which increased the allowance
to an unspecified new level in a move that echoed what happened at
Hunterston B.

Some have said it is “changing the goalposts”. The plant was
scheduled to close in 2023, but had its life extended to 2030 in 2016.
However, the planned shut down was brought forward to 2028 in 2022 as
predictions over the onset of cracks were seen as more imminent. But at the
start of December, last year four power stations run by EDF had their lives
extended with Torness put back to 2030 alongside and received the backing
of UK energy secretary Ed Miliband who described it as a “strong
endorsement of our clean power mission”.

It was just three months before
the extent of the cracking of Torness’s Reactor 1 core was uncovered.
Cracking can destabilise the bricks leading to crucial coolants not flowing
properly, which can lead to overheating, fuel damage and the risk of
radiation release – the early steps of a meltdown.

At the now closed sister
Hunterston B advanced gas-cooled plant also owned by French firm EDF, more
than 350 cracks were found in a reactor’s graphite bricks when it was
forced to shut down in 2018 because it was decided it could not safely
operate. A second reactor was also shut down later the same year under
similar circumstances. According to ONR documentation, seen by The Herald,
an “essentially intact” core is defined as one with fewer than 10% cracked
bricks. In Torness’s 3,000 brick reactor cores that would equate to around
300 – similar to that of now shut Hunterston.

The cracking issues that
caused the Hunterston shutdown affected one in every nine bricks in what
was its Reactor 3 core. At the Torness nuclear plant, near Dunbar in East
Lothian, it equates to one in five of the bricks of the entire core.

It has further emerged that cracks have begun to be discovered in the second of
the two Torness reactor cores. In a May inspection of 13 of the estimated
330 fuel channels in the core, one brick was found to have a crack. The
ONR, the watchdog which is primarily funded through fees charged to the
nuclear industry, say the number of cracks does not challenge the “safety
margins” in the agreed safety case. They say that the reactor could still
be safely shut down in an emergency.

But radioactivity expert Dr Ian
Fairlie, who was the former head of the secretariat of the UK Government’s
Committee Examining Radiation Risks of Internal Emitters insisted that the
levels of cracking should lead to it being closed down. He said: “Wow. They
should shut it imminently. This is a repeat of what happened at Hunterston
and they had to shut that down.

“Once the integrity of the core is
unreliable then really you have to close it sooner rather than later. That
is what they did at Hunterston and they should do the same with Torness. It
is not being anti-progress, it is about safety.” Dr Fairlie, who acts as a
consultant and is a vice-president of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
(CND) added: “There will be lots of assurances given but to be honest with
you, I don’t trust it. Safety is more important than money. I would argue
and other environmentalists would argue that you have to adopt the
precautionary principle … If in doubt you err on the side of caution.
Protecting the public is more important than profits.

Energy consultant
Pete Roche, who has been policy adviser to the Scottish Nuclear Free Local
Authorities echoed the call for Torness to close. He said of the latest
crack numbers: “Goodness. It needs to shut. Absolutely.” He said of the
expanding of the cracks tolerance level that it was changing the goalposts:
“It seems to me they are stretching what is feasible with these reactors,
and if they go too far we could be in trouble.”

Friends of the Earth
Scotland head of campaigns Caroline Rance said: “The enormous costs of
nuclear power are due in part because so much time and money has to be
spent trying to reduce the immense danger it poses. But the only real
guarantee is that we’ll end up with literal toxic waste that must be
guarded for thousands of years.

“Scotland’s nuclear power plants have a
chequered safety history with serious safety lapses reported and
investigations revealing hundreds of cracks in the reactor cores. “Nuclear
projects are always billions over budget and desperately late. Politicians
are willing to write blank cheques for the nuclear industry while people
are crying out for support to insulate their homes and public transport
needs upgrading. “Climate breakdown demands an urgent move to reliable,
affordable renewable energy and a real transition that supports oil workers
into industries that don’t harm the planet.”

Herald 27th June 2025 https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/25260633.shut-down-demands-scotlands-last-nuclear-plant-breaches/