HEYSHAM REACTOR RESTART CONERNS

This just published by the Celtic League:

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

HEYSHAM REACTOR RESTART CONERNS

The Celtic League has asked the Manx government if it has expressed any reservations or enquired into the decision of the UK ONR to allow Heysham nuclear plant to resume operations (see correspondence below):

“The Isle of Man Chief Minister
Mr Allan Bell MHK
Government Buildings
Douglas

30/11/14

Dear Chief Minister,

I draw your attention to the press release set out below issued by the Office of the Nuclear Regulator in the United Kingdom on 21st November

“ONR grants permission to return reactors to service
21 November, 2014
ONR has today granted permission for three reactors at Hartlepool and Heysham 1 to return to service. The reactors were shut down as a precautionary measure in August 2014, following discovery of a crack in a boiler spine at Heysham 1 Reactor 1.
EDF Nuclear Generation Limited presented ONR with a safety justification for the return to service of Heysham 1 Reactor 2 and the two reactors at Hartlepool . ONR has completed an independent assessment of this justification and is satisfied that EDF has demonstrated the continued safe operation for these reactors.
EDF intends to present a separate safety justification for Heysham 1 Reactor 1 which will be subject to independent assessment and will require formal permission from ONR before the reactor can return to service.
ONR will publish its Project Assessment Report outlining its decision in due course”
The URL for the release is:
http://news.onr.org.uk/2014/11/onr-grants-permission-to-return-reactors-...
Can I ask if the IOM government has raised any concerns over this decision? Although you will note at this stage Heysham 1 Reactor 1 is not to restart the conditions that led to its shutdown – a crack in the boiler spine are also given the age of this station likely to manifest themselves in Reactor 2.
I am sure your access to technical data is much more comprehensive than that of the Celtic League but we would aver that a major failure of the boiler spine in this type of reactor would lead to an uncontrolled release of radiation.
We will be writing to the ONR asking about this decision and also enquiring if the reactor to be restarted will be functioning on full or reduced power

Yours sincerely

Bernard Moffatt
Director of Information”

The League will also be contacting the Office of the Nuclear Regulator directly.

J B Moffatt (Mr)
Director of Information

30/11/14

(Please note that replies to correspondence received by the League and posted on CL News are usually scanned hard copies. Obviously every effort is made to ensure the scanning process is accurate but sometimes errors do occur.)

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