British Energy was forced to admit that seven of the UK’s 19 nuclear reactors had been shut down: five for routine maintenance, two on the discovery of internal faults.
Hartlepool and Heysham were closed due to an ‘issue with wire winding’, which could delay their reopening even further.
Former environment secretary Michael Meacher described the situation as ‘extremely worrying’.
He told the BBC that when it comes to energy delivery, ‘One needs certainty, and the nuclear industry doesn’t provide it.’
This article first appeared in the Ecologist October 2007