One of the nuclear reactors at Hunterston has been offline for over a month due to a planned outage, EDF Energy have confirmed.

Hunterston B nuclear power station, which closes in 2023, is reaching the end of its life cycle, and as a consequence, more regular checks are made than at other nuclear power stations around the country.

There are statutory outages at Hunterston every three year, but there is additional inspection at the Hunterston reactors because of its long life.

A spokeswoman for EDF Energy, the parent company who own Hunterston B, stated: "We took reactor 3 off line on the 9 March for a planned interim outage. This forms part of the graphite inspection plan agreed with the ONR (Office of Nuclear Regulation) and involved inspection of the reactor core as well as a range of other maintenance and inspection work whilst offline.

"Reactor 3 at Hunterston B is the lead reactor in terms of graphite core lifetime operation. We perform more frequent inspections on the lead reactor so that we understand the core condition.

"These latest inspections have provided a further update on the core condition. The results are in line with our expectations and will not impact our ability to return the reactor to service or affect safety.

"Hunterston B is, and will continue to be, operated with very large safety margins. The outage work is continuing and we will, as normal, consult with our regulators before returning the reactor to service.

"We anticipate that Reactor 3 will be on-line shortly and expect both reactors to operate until at least 2023."

Reactor 3 was anticipated to go back online on 12 April, with its next statutory outage due to take place in February 2019. Reactor 4's next statutory outage is due in 2020.

Hunterston B began electricity generation in 1976, and has two 2 advanced gas-cooled reactors.

The power plant currently has approximately 520 full time EDF Energy employees plus over 250 full time contract partners.