Manx Government Respond On Heysham Reactor Restart Concerns

This published by the Celtic League:

Manx Government Respond On Heysham Reactor Restart Concerns

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

The Manx Government has responded to queries from the Celtic League about the decision of United Kingdom nuclear regulators to authorise a restart of a nuclear reactor at Heysham 1 Nuclear Power Station.

The League wrote to the Manx government earlier this month (see link):

http://www.celticleague.net/news/heysham-reactor-restart-concerns/

In the reply from the Office of the Chief Minister the Manx government say they have been given safety assurances by the British authorities but that they are not complacent and are continuing to monitor the issue (the full text of their response is set out below):

“8th December 2014

Dear Mr Moffatt

Re Heysham Nuclear Power Station

Thank you for your recent letter on the subject of the return to service of reactor 2 at Heysham1 and the potential return of reactor 2.

I can inform you that an Isle of Man Government official (Dr Paul McKenna) was given a technical briefing by Andy Lindley, Deputy Chief Nuclear Inspector, Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), regarding the problem with the Heysham 1 boiler at a scheduled meeting of United Kingdom and Irish Government officials held in London on 19th November 2014. The ONR Inspector also explained how EDF Nuclear Generation Limited had taken the decision to shut down the other three reactors as a precautionary measure. Having subsequently checked those reactors, they are confident that there is no concern at present and that they can return to normal service, though will remain subject to monitoring.

Dr McKenna was able to question the ONR Inspector on technical aspects and their safety and he was re-assured that it is reasonable to return Heysham’s reactor 2 to service and equally, that if a solution to the reactor 1 problem cannot be found, it would not return to service. Please be assured that there is no complacency on the matter within the Isle of Man Government and I have asked our Minister for Environment (DEFA) to ensure his team continue to liaise with both UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change and ONR, in order to monitor the situation and if necessary, provide the Council of Ministers with an update.

Yours sincerely,

Hon Allan Bell MHK
Chief Minister”

The Manx government have not specifically responded to the Celtic League query about whether the reactor will be operating at full or reduced power but the League understand that Heysham has operated at reduced output for several years now.

The Celtic League is extremely concerned that a station like Heysham 1 which was due to close in 2014 is now likely to operate until at least 2019 (albeit with one of the reactors still shut down).

J B Moffatt (Mr)
Director of Information

09/12/14

(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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