The exercises, involving both site staff and contractors, included preparation for blackouts, an electrical vehicle blaze, and protest activity on site.
The varied range of exercises demonstrate the various contingency measures which are in place, said acting site director Richard Gibson.
Hunterston A is a former Magnox nuclear power station which closed in 1990. The ongoing decommissioning process is being managed by Nuclear Decommissioning Authority subsidiary Magnox Ltd.
A report to the Hunterston site stakeholders group, which includes station directors, regulators, North Ayrshire Council representatives and community councils, said: “Hunterston A continues to address the nuclear liabilities in a safe, secure manner with care for the environment.”
In November, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) issued a regulatory notice to the former Hunterston A nuclear plant after issues with a laboratory on the site.
The team behind the decommissioning of the plant, Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS), insisted there was no danger to the public after it was discovered that some of the plant’s radiological sample analysis equipment located in the lab may not have been calibrated to the required standard.
An annual security demonstration exercise on October 1 took place with the support of Police Scotland as the site successfully demonstrated its security contingency arrangements as part of ‘Exercise Purple Moose’. It centred around protest activity which quickly escalated to an ‘unmanned aerial vehicle’ crashing on site during a high active waste transfer.
The site is continuing to build and test resilience in emergency management and recovery procedures, Mr Gibson pointed out.
Hunterston A carried out 19 emergency exercises throughout 2024 (Image: Hunterston A)
On September 11, emergency scheme members and other key staff participated in ‘Exercise Black Start’ which tested the site’s event recovery and business continuity arrangements in managing rolling power blackouts over a four-day period, affecting the day-to-day operation of the site and welfare of staff.
Mr Gibson said: “Targeted exercise scenarios are designed to ensure the site contingency arrangements, staff and contractors are fully prepared to mitigate the consequences of both existing and emerging risks on site.
“Recent exercises include responding to an electrical vehicle fire on site, rescue of an injured person from planned work in the site delay tanks and the site’s ability to manage significant quantities of fire water run-off on site.
“More recently the site has been busy finalising their winter readiness plan to ensure the station have robust arrangements in place to maintain a safe and accessible site during adverse weather over the winter period.”
As part of the company future mission’s strategy the site recently facilitated a visit from key B Station staff where they shared experiences and openly discussed the challenges in terms of emergency arrangements through the various stages of defuelling and decommissioning.
Hunterston B closed down three years ago on January 7, 2022.