Oldbury powers on into 2009
Oldbury Power Station will continue to generate electricity into 2009 and beyond.
Originally planned for closure at the end of this year Oldbury now has the opportunity to continue producing electricity for a further period – likely to be around two years – following a period of review with the site’s regulators.
During this year the site has been planning for this prospect, undertaking work to support the period of extended generation including an evaluation of the Periodic Safety Review – the key document used by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) to check the safety of the site.
Joe Lamonby, Oldbury Site Director, said: “As a result of excellent operation and maintenance by our experienced staff the plant and equipment are in very good condition.
“We have worked hard with each of our regulators and they have no objection to extended generation. We are pleased that this work has been successful and that we will continue to contribute to the country’s electricity supply as we have done for the last 40 years.”
Brian Burnett, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s Programme Director said: "Oldbury's continued generation is good news as it ensures further benefit from one of the NDA's valuable assets. The income generated over the extension period will be utilised to support our clean-up mission. I would like to thank Magnox Limited for all the work they have done to help make this happen."
Regulators overseeing other aspects of the site’s work include the Environment Agency and the Office for Civil Nuclear Security and each of these has been involved in this programme of work.
Paul Mountford-Lister, the Environment Agency’s Inspector for Oldbury, said: “Extension of safe generation at Oldbury will have little additional environmental impact and will save the production of roughly four million tonnes of CO2 from fossil fuels.
No changes to the current Authorisation are necessary. We will continue to seek to ensure that high environmental standards are applied to minimise radioactive waste arisings. In light of this the Environment Agency has no objection to the continued operation of the station.”
