PRESS RELEASES ON HINKLEY B
21 Apr 11: BBC Radio 4 The Report: examining safety at Hinkley. In the wake of Fukushima, Andy Denwood investigated the recent record of Britain's nuclear safety agency: is the inspectorate - relaunched this month - up to the job? Interviews with John Large, Joan Girling at Sizewell, Jim Duffy and Stop Hinkley campaigners. Listen to the programme here. |
| 24 Sep 08: Response to BE takeover by EDF: Stop Hinkley campaigners have reacted angrily to today's announcement that EDF has purchased nuclear operators British Energy who own Hinkley Point B , paving the way to two new giant reactors on the West Somerset coast. EDF have made a higher offer on the company which owns eight nuclear power stations in a move which paves the way for nuclear expansion in the west-country, particularly at Hinkley Point. More >>> |
| 16 May 08: Hinkley 'scrammed' last week: One of the reactors at Hinkley 'B' was 'scrammed' by an automatic trip on 8th May. At the time British Energy said the reactor shut down had been due to an electronic problem on the conventional side and was not serious. The news emerges after it was revealed Hinkley is missing its last-resort safety system. More >>>>> |
| 09 May 08: Hinkley faces closure over missing safety system: Hinkley Point B has been warned by the nuclear regulator that it faces being shut down this year if it does not fit a 'tertiary' safety system at a cost of many millions. Campaigners are calling for a public inquiry, astonished that the 'boron beads' system was never fitted as this leaves the ageing and corroded reactor vulnerable with only two lines of defence. More >>>>> |
| 05 Feb 08: Hinkley B to shut again: Campaigners have pointed to the fragility of sensitively placed boilers at Hinkley B following the news that the twin reactors will both have to shut down this year following a seven month outage last winter. More >>>>>>> |
| 02 May 07: Campaigners rail at Hinkley 10 year license. Campaigners have branded the new life extension given to Hinkley Point B as outrageous and questioned if political motives are at play. The thirty year old reactor has passed a ten year 'Periodic Safety Review', valid up to 2017. But Stop Hinkley campaigners are astonished as only last year the nuclear safety regulators published documents saying Hinkley's cracked graphite reactor core prevented it being re-licensed as there was an increased risk of an accident. More >>>>> |
| 21 Dec 06: Hinkley shut till spring, then low output for a year. Yet more cracked boiler tube pipes at Hinkley Point nuclear plant have contributed to an extended closure till the end of March. 'Tail pipes' at the top of the difficult to access boilers were found to need repair in reactor 4. Although this has now been done, reactor 3 requires a similar inspection and repair work. A detailed safety case then needs to be put together and approved by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate. |
| 08 Dec 06: Hail of criticism in Hinkley report Radio 4's flagship investigative programme, File on Four, last night (Tuesday) poured a hail of criticism on Hinkley Point nuclear power station and its operators British Energy, describing Hinkley as 'old and unreliable hardware'. Cracks in Hinkley's reactor core and adjacent boiler tubes were the focus of penetrating questions in the forty minute 'Panorama' style programme. |
| 20 Nov 06: Hinkley restart dates in doubt. Stop Hinkley has received information under the Freedom of Information Act to confirm that the 'expected' restart dates for Hinkley Point B had not been cleared by the nuclear safety regulator. |
| 18 Nov 06: Hinkley woes deepen. A top casualty has been incurred at British Energy following the series of problems at Hinkley Point B, whilst safety regulators have railed at the company's suggested rapid timescale for repairs. |
| 25 Oct 06: End of the road for Hinkley. The nuclear safety regulators have released a document saying that Hinkley B is unable to make a safety case in respect of its graphite reactor cores at the end of its current licensing period. The NII report says clearly that a safety case cannot currently be made and outlines the engineering dangers: that most graphite bricks will crack in the near future thus jeopardising the safe running if the reactor. |
| 11 Oct 06: Reactor hit by more cracks Campaigners have demanded the permanent closure of Hinkley B following news of more age-related cracks, this time in its boiler tubes. Currently one of the thirty-year old plant's twin reactors is prematurely shut down for inspections and repairs after excessive cracks were discovered in the two virtually identical reactors at Hunterston in Ayrshire. |
| 05 Jul 06: Top engineer says shut Hinkley 'B' immediately Stop Hinkley campaigners are supporting calls for Hinkley Point 'B' power station to be closed immediately. Top nuclear engineer, John Large, has analysed papers obtained by Stop Hinkley campaigners under the Freedom of Information Act and discovered that extensive cracking has occurred in the graphite bricks which comprise the reactor core, making the reactor potentially unstable. |
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