EDF Energy extends outages at UK's Dungeness B nuclear power plant

By Nina Chestney

LONDON (Reuters) - EDF Energy has extended outages at the two reactors at Britain's Dungeness B nuclear power plant to July, the company's outage website showed.

The two reactors at the plant have been offline since late summer 2018 as the company has been carrying out inspections and maintenance of pipes carrying steam to the turbine.

EDF's <EDF.PA> EDF Energy is also trying to complete repair work on corrosion identified during inspections of safety back-up systems at the plant on the south coast of England.

"The Dungeness B power station is undergoing a major two-year investment programme to help secure the station’s future to 2028 and potentially beyond," said a company spokesman.

“We still have some work to do on the station’s boilers before we ask for final restart approval from our regulator and so our latest position for estimated return to service is July 8 for Reactor 22 and July 18 for Reactor 21," he added.

Earlier this week, EDF Energy extended two planned outages at Britain's Hinkley Point B nuclear plant to June to complete further inspections of the reactor cores.

These are required at its two longest operating stations, Hunterston B and Hinkley Point B.

EDF Energy operates 15 nuclear reactors in Britain, providing about 20% of the country’s electricity.

(Reporting by Nina Chestney; Editing by Jan Harvey, Kirsten Donovan)