Safety fears if Wylfa power station is kept open after 2010

Jan 30 2008 by Darren Devine, Western Mail

WALES’ only remaining nuclear power station could now stay open until 2016, angering campaigners who say the ageing reactor will become a safety liability.

Wylfa, on Anglesey, is due to close in March 2010, but the Nuclear Decommission Authority (NDA) are involved in a feasibility study looking at keeping the plant open beyond this date.

Also the NDA says that when the twin Magnox reactor eventually does close it’s a more likely location for a new power station than some sites in England’s south.

A study by Jackson Consulting has suggested Wylfa could accommodate a new single reactor, but not a twin because an additional line would be required to feed into the national grid.

The existing line would not be able to cope with the extra energy generated by a 2,000-plus megawatt state-of-the art power station, said Jackson. Planning consent would be required for a twin reactor to set up a new transmission line to the national grid.

The NDA, which owns 20 UK nuclear stations including Wylfa, suggests the Anglesey plant would be a more suitable location for a new replacement because it’s less vulnerable to environmental factors like coastal erosion.

A spokesperson said, “Certainly from some of the early work that has been done it would suggest Wylfa is a more suitable site than some of the others.

“There are considerations in the south of England that some of the sites there are more likely to be prone to coastal erosion and climate change than sites elsewhere. There is a whole balance to be taken into account.”

For Wylfa to stay open after 2010 the Sellafield reprocessing plant, where waste fuel rods from the North Wales plant are sent, would also have to continue functioning. However the UK Government is a signatory to the Ospar convention, which has ruled nuclear discharges from Sellafield will end by 2016.

But Anglesey-based anti-nuclear campaigner Dylan Morgan has accused the NDA of “speculating” on a new Wylfa to pay off the costs of decommissioning the existing plant.

He said, “It shows the NDA cannot pay for what they’re doing already and it’s scandalous to think they want to speculate on a new build to pay for the mess already created by nuclear.”

Mr Morgan said the Jackson report suggested there were “major barriers that were difficult to overcome” in attempting to site a new nuclear station on Anglesey.

“With the design of the latest European twin-pressurised reactors you’re talking about 2 to 3,200 megawatts. There’s a single transmission line in and out of Wylfa and it would not be enough.”

Nuclear engineer Dr John Large said Wylfa was only designed to have a shelf-life to take it to 2010 and operating beyond this point is inherently risky.

Dr Large, who carried out risk assessments for the Russian government in relation to the recovery of the Kursk nuclear submarine that sank in 2000 with the loss of 118 crew, said, “It’s like an old car – the risk of an accident increases with age. You cannot say old is as good as new however well you keep it and Wylfa is in that position.”

A spokesperson for the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, which oversees industry safety, said it would want to see a “detailed” and “robust” safety case before agreeing to extend Wylfa’s life beyond 2010.

“As far as our involvement is concerned we would need to be presented with a very detailed safety case before we could even consider extending the lifespan.”

The NDA is currently trying to extend Wylfa’s operating licence at least until the end of 2010.