Hartlepool EDF Power Station celebrates 40 years since connecting to electricity grid

On August 1 1983, Reactor 1 was connected to the UK electricity grid for the very first time. Since then the station’s pair of reactors have supplied enough electricity to meet the needs of every home in the North East for more than 55 years.

Station director Mark Lees said: “During our lifetime this plant and its people have given an amazing service to the region. We have supplied home-grown zero-carbon power, decades before we realised how just important this is.

“Our teams are rightly proud of the massive contribution they, and this station, have made to the nation and today we'll all celebrate that achievement together.”

The station was due to begin decommissioning in March 2024, but its life was extended by owner EDF until March 2026.

It has meant a statutory outage of its reactor 2 has also been extended to ready the reactor, and associated plant, for a further two years of generation.

This work is carried out once every three years and gives teams the chance to inspect, upgrade and improve parts of the plant they cannot access when the reactors are generating.

During the outage, the plant has seen a £30m investment into upgrades and improvements, with EDF contracting around 300 temporary specialist staff to carry out more than 12,000 tasks.

More than 60 new members of staff were also recruited in recent months, with more than 275 people applying for just seven new apprenticeship positions.

Mr Lees added: “I'm incredibly proud of everything this station has done for this region since 1983, but it's the future that excites me.

"The works we're undertaking will put us in a strong position for years of generation to come, we have a refreshed team with plenty of young blood, and we know politicians of all stripes want to see more nuclear in Hartlepool.

“This birthday is a good moment for us to reflect on all we've achieved and what the power station means to this community. But there are decades more work to be done here, so now we need to grasp the opportunities in front of us and deliver a bright future for nuclear for Hartlepool and the North East.”

The station employs around 700 people.