The UK Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has formally approved the relicensing of the Hunterston B NPP in North Ayrshire (Scotland), marking the beginning of the site’s decommissioning phase. Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS) will assume the role of licensee and take full responsibility for overseeing the decommissioning of the site from 1 April. It will be the first of EDF’s Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactor (AGR) sites to move to NRS.
Mike Finnerty, ONR’s CEO and Chief Nuclear Inspector, joined senior representatives from EDF, NRS and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) to sign the documentation required to issue the new nuclear site licence. Simultaneously, ONR signed documentation revoking EDF’s site licence from 31 March. This follows a rigorous assessment by ONR specialist inspectors who concluded that NRS meets all the site licence requirements.
“The strong collaborative work between our inspectors, EDF and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has helped deliver this milestone safely and on schedule,” said Mike Finnerty. “It is now vital that the decommissioning and dismantling of these facilities is progressed in a timely manner. This marks an important and progressive step at Hunterston B, and we look forward to working with new licence holder Nuclear Restoration Services to drive forward our commitments to reducing hazard and protecting workers and the public.”
Hunterston B stopped generating electricity in January 2022 after 46 years of service. Decommissioning the site will involve dismantling nuclear facilities and removing any associated radioactive waste for safe storage or disposal which includes removing all plant, equipment, services and buildings outside of the reactor building. After the decommissioning process is complete, the site will enter a period of care and maintenance.
The UK has seven Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactors: Dungeness B (stopped operating in 2021), Hartlepool, Heysham 1, Heysham 2, Hinkley Point B (stopped operating in 2022), Hunterston B (stopped operating in 2022) and Torness. Once the AGRs stop operating and the reactors have been emptied of fuel, they will be relicensed, on a rolling basis, to the NDA and its subsidiary NRS who will complete the decommissioning of the sites on behalf of the UK government.
There are currently 13 other former reactor and research sites in various stages of decommissioning across the UK, which are licensed to NRS.
