Two British nuclear power plants have been granted additional one-year extensions to their operating lives, ensuring the employment of more than 1,000 people for a longer period, DPA reported, BTA reported.
The "Heysham 1" plants in Lancashire and "Hartlepool" plants in Teesside, majority owned and operated by French company "EDF Energy", are now expected to produce electricity until March 2028 – a year later than originally planned.
The company said the decision was made after a series of positive graphite tests at both plants over the past nine months.
British Gas owner Centrica, which has a 20 percent stake in both plants, welcomed the extension as "great news."
The two plants produce enough electricity to power more than four million homes a year.
There is no change to the March 2030 closure date for EDF's other two British advanced gas-cooled reactors, Heysham 2 and Torness. which was announced in December last year.
"Extending the lives of these plants makes sense. It provides longer-term employment for the more than 1,000 people who work at these sites and supports the UK's ambitions for a clean and secure electricity supply. Another year of operation at these two plants has the potential to power more than four million homes and reduce the need for imported gas," said Mark Hartley, managing director of EDF's nuclear operations business.
The new decision follows previous one-year extensions to the operating lives of all four UK AGRS reactor sites, announced in December 2024.