Expert warns of "Chernobyl like" disaster at Hunterston in Ayrshire

A nuclear energy specialist has told a meeting at Holyrood that defects at Hunterston near West Kilbride could have consequences as severe as Chernobyl.

Two reactors at the plant are offline because of a number of cracks discovered last year.

EDF Energy, which owns the plant, had hoped to have them back online by the end of 2018 but that date has been pushed back.

Green MSP Ross Greer organised a briefing at Holyrood over saftey fears and calls for the reactors to never be switched back on.

Speaking to West FM News after the meeting, he said, "Dr Fairlie (nuclear expert) was very clear that chances of a Chernobyl like incident or something utterly catastrophic are really quite small. But those chances increase the longer you keep a plant online and the more cracks that appear in the reactor core.

"Hunterston is a plant which has had its lifespan extended repeatedly and there have been more cracks occuring than the plant owner, EDF Energy, had expected. And they can't explain why this is happening.

"As much as the risk of something like a Chernobyl incident is small, it is so disastrous for the whole of Europe. We cannot be dismissive of this. We have to take this very seriously as the consequences could be so dire. There is a real sense in the community that this risk has grown.

"The Scottish Greens have been really clear that we can create far more jobs with a transition towards new industry. We have seen time and time again in other industries that when they close, communities are left behind. That can't happen at Hunterston

"What we are demanding is that those reactors aren't turned back on because of safety concerns. But also a quality transition plan that allows us to create jobs. This is about safety for the country but also about the economic health of the local area and we should grasp this opportunity by decommissioning Hunterston."

But a spokesperson for EDF Energy told us they weren’t given the chance to put across their side of the story, and would never operate a nuclear reactor unless it was 100% safe to do so.

In a statement the company said: “It’s unfortunate that we received no response to our offer to speak at this meeting which was hosted by Green MSP Ross Greer and organised by NFLA using the report produced by Dr Ian Fairlie.

“If we had been able to provide some balance to the discussion, we would have emphasised that there is no question of Hunterston B or any of our nuclear stations ever operating in an unsafe condition. Our strategy is progressing well and we are engaging positively with the Office for Nuclear Regulation throughout this complex programme of work.

“Our lifetime expectation to 2023 remains unchanged. On 2 November we submitted a safety case to the ONR seeking approval for return to service of Reactor 4 and are also preparing to submit the safety case for Reactor 3.

“These must demonstrate that, for the next period of operation, the reactor will operate and shutdown safely during normal operation and during a highly unlikely earthquake scenario.”

More safety information can be found on EDF’s website.