EDF extends lifetime of four nuclear power plants

Four of Britain's oldest nuclear power plants will continue running for more than a decade longer than initially planned to help bridge a gap before the delayed Hinkley Point nuclear station starts up.

- Jillian Ambrose

The owner of Britain's nuclear plants, the French energy company EDF, said it had agreed to extend the lifetime of its reactors yet again to "boost energy security and reduce dependence on imported gas".

The decision means the Heysham 2 nuclear reactor in Lancashire and the Torness nuclear plant in East Lothian will keep producing electricity for an additional two years to March 2030.

It is the second extension for the plants, which began operating in 1988 and were expected to run for 30 years.