Work has started on a £20 million maintenance programme at EDF Energy's Hunterston B power station in North Ayrshire.

One of the two reactors at the power station was taken off line for the works on Friday, 08 September.

The eight-week scheme will see more than 10,000 separate pieces of work carried out, each carefully planned during the last two years of preparation, including inspections of a range of systems including the boilers, electrical systems and the graphite core. biggest projects will include replacing three low pressure turbine rotors and the main generator electrical rotor.

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More than 450 extra workers will join the 750 strong workforce for the maintenance period, which is known as a "statutory outage".

Station Director, Colin Weir, said: "This period of maintenance marks the best run of electricity generation in Hunterston B power station's 41 year history. This achievement is testament to both the planning and commitment of the station's dedicated workforce and the investment by EDF Energy. The outage will see around £20m of investment in the power station and will give us the chance to do inspections and carry out pieces of work we are not able to perform when the reactor is operating.

"As part of this maintenance we will be working with local suppliers and bringing in an additional 450 workers who will be staying in local hotels and B and B's, eating in the area's restaurants and using taxi firms. It is great that our investment in the power station can also benefit our local community just as the peak tourist season is coming to an end."

(LM)