The nuclear reactor was taken offline seven weeks ago to allow engineers to complete a multi-million-pound improvement program. During this time, critical upgrades were made, and the reactor was refuelled to ensure continued reliable and sustainable energy production.
The reactor was successfully brought back to power on Sunday, December 1, with the first of the station’s two turbine generators resuming electricity supply. The second turbine generator came online in the early hours of Thursday, December 5, restoring the station to full operation.
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This timely return highlights Sizewell B's crucial role in supporting the nation’s energy needs while contributing to a greener, zero-carbon future.
Robert Gunn, Station Director, said: "Inside those few weeks our teams have performed an amazing job. They completed 15,000 separate pieces of work across 1,500 pieces of our plant. They also replaced the enormous rotor system inside one of our turbines and undertook detailed inspections of our reactor, its system and pipelines. We even sent divers to our intake pipe, which draws in the water we use in our operations, for inspections.
"These outage periods are incredibly important for the power station as they give us a chance to look at systems that are difficult, in some cases impossible, to access when we’re generating. Because of this work we now have a hugely improved picture of what is happening in our plant and reactor.
"We plan to extend the life of our plant, beyond 2035, so understanding what is happening inside all of our systems is vital. The good news is that at this point all our systems are as we expect."
