HUNDREDS of additional workers are set to give Dunbar and the surrounding area a boost as Torness Power Station goes through a major maintenance programme.
About 750 people work at the nuclear power station and, at its peak, a further 800 workers could join the team during the statutory outage.
One of the station’s two units (unit two) has been taken offline for work to be carried out.
A spokesperson for EDF, which manages the power station, compared the 11-week outage to an MOT.
When additional workers are at Torness, it is hoped that they will stay in the area’s hotels, bed and breakfasts and caravan parks, as well as eat in local restaurants and boost local businesses.
Paul Forrest, station director at Torness, which is due to close in just over four years, said: “Torness is a top-performing site, having generated enough low-carbon electricity over its lifetime to power every home in Scotland for 36 years.
“This £37m maintenance programme supports our ambition to make sure the station can continue to support the UK’s energy security by generating until at least 2030.
“This will be the 26th statutory outage we have carried out at the station.
“We are very well practised at them and, over the years, we have built great relationships with the extra workers who come and support us during the outages.
“These workers will be staying and eating locally.
“It is great that our investment in the power station can also benefit our local community.”
During the outage, workers will carry out more than 12,500 separate pieces of work – each carefully planned during the last two years of preparation.
Some of the largest jobs including a turbine rotor exchange, gas circulator exchanges and inspections, and graphite core inspections.
EDF carries out a statutory outage on each of its reactors every three years.
The works are planned with the National Grid to ensure that there is no impact on the national electricity supply.
The other reactor at Torness is due to continue operating normally throughout the period.
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