LONDON, Sept 3 (Reuters) - EDF Energy has extended an outageat the Hunterston B-7 reactor on the west coast of Scotland toJan. 15, 2020 from a previously scheduled Oct. 1, the Britisharm of French utility EDF said on its website.
It has been offline since March 2018 after routineinspections found cracks in its graphite core. Its restart hasbeen delayed several times since.
Before the reactor can restart Britain's Office for NuclearRegulation (ONR) must be satisfied with the company's safetycase, showing the reactor would be safe to operate even in theunlikely event of an earthquake.
"After discussions with ONR we have agreed that someadditional technical analysis will be completed to support the... safety case assessment," Hunterson B station director ColinWeir said.
The other reactor at the plant, which is more than 40 yearsold, was given approval to restart power production last month.
The two reactors at full capacity can provide enoughelectricity to power more than 1.7 million homes.(Reporting by Susanna Twidale; editing by David Goodman andJason Neely)