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Investigations underway after small fire in Hartlepool Power Station

EDF Energy are investigating how a small fire happened inside their nuclear power station in Hartlepool. It happened at around 1.30am on Saturday 15 March and was quickly put out by a staff member.

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EDF Energy: We had to turn off nuclear reactor because of power station fire

A spokesman from EDF Energy has confirmed that they had to shutdown a nuclear reactor because of a small fire inside Hartlepool Power Station.

Investigations are continuing after the fire, which happened at around 1.30am on Saturday 15 March.

A small fire on Turbine Generator no. 2 was discovered in the early hours of Saturday morning. It was promptly extinguished by a member of staff using a hand held dry powder extinguisher. As is normal practice, in such events the fire services attended the site but were not deployed. Reactor 2 was safely shutdown to enable the event to be properly investigated and dealt with. Hartlepool Reactor 1 continues to operate without any issues. No radioactive material was involved in the incident and no hazard posed to the public."

Cleveland Fire Brigade: Excess oil on pipework could have caused power station fire

A spokeswoman from Cleveland Fire Brigade has said that "excess oil on the pipework" could have caused the small fire inside Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station. It happened at around 1.30am on Saturday 15 March. EDF Energy, which owns the station, is continuing to investigate.

Ten appliances from Cleveland Fire Brigade attended the incident at Hartlepool Power Station. Some lagging around one of the pipes had caught fire. It was below a turbine in the turbine hall. It was not a major incident when we got there. Crews used a dry powder extinguisher to put out the fire. A possible cause of the fire was excess oil on the pipework from maintenance which has overheated."

– Cleveland Fire Brigade

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Investigations underway after small fire inside Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station

Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station. Credit: ITV News Tyne Tees

Investigations are underway after a small fire inside Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station at around 1.30am on the morning of Saturday 15 March. Ten fire engines were called to the scene and they remained there for several hours.

However, they were not deployed as a staff member had already put it out with a fire extinguisher. One of the nuclear reactors did have to be shut down so the incident could be dealt with. It is thought that some pipe lagging on one of the generators inside the turbine hall caught fire.

In a statement, EDF Energy, which owns the station, said: "Reactor 2 was safely shutdown to enable the event to be properly investigated and dealt with. No radioactive material was involved in the incident and no hazard posed to the public."

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