British Energy Press Release 4 February 2009

Boiler Closure Unit (”BCU”) Update – Heysham 1 Reactor and Hartlepool Reactor 1 have synchronised to the National Grid, having made engineering modifications and received the necessary consent from the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (“NII”) to return the units to service.
The units have been out of service for an extended period of time and therefore a comprehensive return to service programme will be followed over the coming days.

Following completion of the engineering modification work and upon receipt of the necessary regulatory clearance, the Company expects to return Reactor 2 at Hartlepool power station and Reactor 2 at Heysham 1 power station to service in a phased process over the coming weeks.

Gwen Parry-Jones, station director at Heysham 1, said:
“I am immensely proud of everyone here at Heysham 1 and throughout British Energy and our supporting contractors who have kept a superb level of commitment and professionalism during this long and often testing time. Many millions of man hours have been spent on resolving this issue which has been a challenge but one we have overcome.

“We have also taken the time to work on many other areas of the plant including the replacement of 2 km of cooling water pipework,  and a number of other major projects. In addition our teams have also tackled 1000s of smaller maintenance tasks. The plant should now be in a good condition for many more years of safe and reliable generation.

“When I arrived back here in late summer as station director I was impressed with everything I saw in terms of teamwork and commitment to getting the job done safely, and now thanks to that effort we are back on line.”