Torness Power Station – East Lothian Winds of Change

EDF’s Torness has one of the best rates of generation per annum in the fleet.
In the 35th year of generation – remain a strong generator and integral part of East Lothian
Over its generating life, Torness has produced almost as much zero-carbon energy as Hunterston B did in its 46 years: equivalent to powering every home in Scotland for 29 years.
Torness supports around 500 staff and 250 contractors.
Each year Torness contributes around £45m to the East Lothian economy
During scheduled maintenance periods, that workforce is larger with an additional 800 contractors visiting site – these shutdowns are known as an outage
While supporting this work these contractors boost the local economy, staying in local hotels and B&Bs and using other local services like taxis and restaurants.
This is something that has been happening throughout the 35-year life of the station but we are conscious that alongside the increasing volume of projects in the area there may be an added strain on local suppliers.
2023 is a non-outage year, our next stat outage is March 2024 and then July 2025

Defueling

Torness is currently due to end generation in March 2028
Defueling begins when a station stops generating. EDF will remove all spent fuel from the site using the same methods used during generation
Defueling is expected to last for approx. four years – during this time staff numbers onsite will remain largely the same and there will be no change to the site’s footprint.

Once all spent fuel has been removed, site ownership will be transferred, to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). Its subsidiary, Magnox, will carry out the rest of the decommissioning job.
Current plans will see most plant, equipment, services and buildings removed within around 12 years of end of generation.
The reactor building will remain in situ for a further period until final site clearance.

Decommissioning of Torness

EDF

Ashleigh.dickson@edf-energy.com