ENERGY firm EDF is carrying out a public consultation on its plans for the decommissioning of Hinkley Point B nuclear power station, a process which will continue into the 22nd century.

The two Hinkley B reactors were shut down in August, 2022, after 46 years of electricity generation, but will not be able to be removed until about 2107.

EDF has since been removing the used fuel from the reactors in preparation for the station’s decommissioning phase, which will involve dismantling and demolishing plant and buildings on the site.

More than half of the spent fuel stringers have been removed from the first reactor and sent on in flasks for storage in Sellafield, Cumbria.

When the defueling is completed in 2026, the Hinkley Point B site will be transferred to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), with Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS), formerly Magnox, becoming the new site licence company and undertaking the decommissioning.

Now, EDF is asking for people’s views on the plans it has prepared for the decommissioning, which are based on its experience in operating and refuelling the reactors since 1976 and knowledge of reactor and generating technology over many years.

An EDF spokesperson said the proposals had also been further developed following a community consultation in 2022 and ongoing environmental assessments.

The first phase of decommissioning would involve removing all buildings and plant except reactor buildings and some adjoining properties, which would be modified to create a ‘Safestore’ structure where they would be kept in a safe state through for about the next 70 years, a period known as ‘quiescence’.

Planning for the ‘quiescence’ phase was expected to take up to 2038, but could take longer depending on the findings of ongoing studies into how the buildings and plant could be de-constructed and how waste and materials arising from the process would be managed.

Most material produced by decommissioning would not be radioactive, with 99 per cent of radioactivity removed in the defueling operation.

Final site clearance with removal of the reactors and debris vaults in the ‘Safestore’ structure would start after 2107 to allow for safe radioactive decay.

The EDF spokesperson said a new building would be needed to manage, process, and package mostly low level waste before its removal, requiring planning permission in a few years’ time.

Intermediate level waste would be stored on site until a geological disposal facility became available.

A decommissioning workforce of 220 to 300 would be needed while preparing for ‘quiescence’, down from the current 450, and about 130 workers for the final site clearance phase.

The EDF spokesperson said the consultation was running until midnight on May 27 and could be found online at www.edfenergy.com/hinkley-point-b or by visiting one of the in-person events in village halls in Wembdon on Friday (April 19) and Stogursey next Thursday (April 25), both from 3 pm to 7 pm.

Copies of the consultation documents could also be found in public libraries in Nether Stowey and Bridgwater, and in the Hinkley Point visitor centre, in Cannington.