UK's 41-year old nuclear reactor shuts down early
Source: Reuters
One of the world's oldest nuclear reactors shut down for good in Britain on Wednesday evening, five days earlier than originally planned after an operational issue forced it to disconnect from the grid, operator Magnox said on Thursday.
The 41-year old reactor 2 at Wylfa nuclear power plant on Anglesey in Wales stopped producing electricity at around 1800 GMT on Wednesday, cutting 620 megawatts of power capacity from Britain's system.
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Britain's Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) is assessing whether partially used fuel from the now defunct reactor 2 can be transferred to reactor 1, which uses the same type of fuel and is equally old, to allow it to continue operating until 2014.
The Wylfa nuclear units use a specific type of nuclear fuel that is no longer being produced.
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Magnox also shut down its Oldbury reactor in late February, at 44 years the oldest operating nuclear reactor in the world at the time.
Read more: http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL6E8FQE8620120426
