BE set to restart Hartlepool unit 1

British Energy (BE) announced that its Hartlepool unit 1 Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor (AGR) has been given regulatory approval to return to service, having been idle for some 16 months. Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors (AGRs) have their eight boilers (steam generators) fitted inside the reactor's reinforced concrete containment structure. Wire windings in the boiling closure unit (BCU) form part of the pressure boundary. A broken wire winding was discovered on a BCU at Hartlepool unit 1 during a planned inspection in September 2007, and BE decided to take its sister units at Hartlepool and Heysham 1 out of service for inspection and assessment. Having completed engineering modifications at Hartlepool unit 1, it will be the first of the four units to be restarted. All four reactors had previously been expected to resume operation by the end of 2008. BE said that it expects to return Hartlepool unit 2 and the two Heysham 1 reactors to service "in a phased process over the coming weeks."