Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 26 May 1993

Vol. 431 No. 4

Written Answers. - Sizewell A Nuclear Power Station.

Trevor Sargent

Question:

77 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications if he has written to the British Government to express his concern at the explosion and small fire in the Sizewell A nuclear power station, Suffolk, on Sunday, 2 May 1993.

Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications (Mr. Cowen)

Following reports of the incident on 2 May referred to by the Deputy, I arranged for the fullest details on the incident to be supplied by the UK authorities concerned.

As a result of an electrical fault, an explosion which initiated a small fire occurred in a transformer in a substation owned by the UK's National Grid Company at Sizewell in Suffolk, south-east England. The transformer is located in a remote compound some distace from the main power station buildings. The failure of the transformer led to an automatic shutdown of a reactor at Sizewell A. Repairs were made to the transformer and the reactor has since re-opened.

The incident did not present any hazard to the reactor, no persons were injured and there were no radiological implications.