One of the nuclear power reactors at Torness in East Lothian has been shut down following a problem with a valve, prompting increased concerns about its future.
EDF Energy, the French company that runs Torness, has said that reactor two went offline on 23 June because a key valve in the steam turbine closed. It is investigating what went wrong, and hoping to restart the reactor on 30 June.
Reactor one at Torness, which is still running, is now the only one of four reactors in Scotland currently generating electricity. The other two reactors at Hunterston in North Ayrshire have been closed for most of the last two years because of spreading cracks in their graphite cores.
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EDF had wanted to run the reactors at Hunterston passed their scheduled decommissioning despite the cracks in the reactors. Let’s hope they stay closed. An accident at either power plant could conceivable render large parts of central Scotland uninhabitable although the prevailing winds make an accident at Hunterston the more likely of the two to do so.