Pictures show cracks in Ayrshire nuclear reactor

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Media captionPictures show cracks appear in the nuclear reactor [EDF Energy]
The first pictures have emerged of cracking in the graphite bricks which make up the core of nuclear reactors at Hunterston B Power Station in Ayrshire. Image caption

The reactor core is made up of 3,000 bricks and the cracks run the full length of 1 in 10 of them

The company accepts that the cracking is ‘life-limiting’ for the reactor but will not say what it believes to be a limit beyond which it would be unsafe to operate. Image caption

The two reactors at Hunterston B can generate enough electricity to power 1.8 million homes.

Source: www.bbc.com