Staff at Hunterston 'B' have been praised for abandoning their Christmas dinner to help keep the power plant running after an emergency fault developed.

Unit 4 at Hunterston B was taken offline just after 11am on 25 December after an issue with a pneumatic valve. Staff had to rush to the site to carry out maintenance at the site.

EDF decided to shut down the unit in order to carry out repairs, and it was brought back into service on Sunday 28 December 2014 at 5.30pm. A unit refers to a reactor and one of its generating turbine.

The matter was reported during the recent Hunterston stakeholders public forum, held in the Laurieston Hotel in Ardrossan last Thursday.

Mr John Morrison, deputising for station manager Colin Weir, described it as ‘challenging for everyone’ at the site, and stated that the cause of the failure was the hardening of the copper pipeline which had suffered heavy vibration, which had led to the closing of the valve - the airline is supposed to keep the valve open. Consequently, its air supply line failed.

Deputy Provost Robert Barr, who represents West Kilbride, said: “I would like to congratulate the workforce at Hunterston ‘B’ who responded to the trip which occurred on Christmas Day.” Mr Morrison said: “A lot of staff were on holiday - and a lot of Christmas dinners therefore had to be interrupted.” Cllr. Barr continued: “I’d like to congratulate them all for coming in over Christmas and carrying out their duties.” Chair of the site stakeholders group. Rita Holmes, said: “As Hunterston B is getting older, like the rest of us, do you notice if there are lot more in the way of trips?” Mr Morrison responded that this was certainly not the case, and there were a programme of improvements taking place at the site.

He added that EDF would not be ‘running the plant down as that would be unacceptable’, and ‘it is not the business that we are in.’ Instead, he said that the power plant was constructed in such a way that ‘the last year would be its best year’ in terms of electricity generation.

Cllr. Holmes thanked EDF for their answer, and pointed out that her question was not insinuating that Hunterston was ‘going to rack and ruin’, and praised the management and staff at Hunterston for ‘keeping up the good work’.

Hunterston ‘B’ has had a lifetime extension to 2023. The plant employs more than 700 people and generates enough electricity to supply almost half of Scotland’s homes.