The people shaping the last chapter of Hinkley B

Ross Pollard & Clara Bullock
BBC News, Somerset
Inside Hinkley Point B: The Station Director

Staff preparing to decommission a former nuclear power station over the coming decades say they feel "proud of the legacy" they are a part of.

Hinkley Point B, which lies on the Somerset coast, ceased operations in August 2022 after it reached the end of its life, with Hinkley Point C currently being constructed.

EDF Energy and the Office for Nuclear Regulation have started the slow process of decommissioning the site, which could take about 95 years.

Nicola Fauvel, station director at Hinkley Point B, said: "It's the staff who write the chapter of what the deconstruction and decommissioning looks like."

Ms Fauvel is one of few women in leading roles within the nuclear energy industry.

"I love the role I'm in. Being the station director is really the culmination of all the experiences I've had," Ms Fauvel said.

She added that she feels a "sense of responsibility" to share what she does with other women and girls.

"I used to not like being associated with being a female role model but I've switched and I see it as a duty to share what I do because I love what I do," Ms Fauvel said.

One of the reasons she enjoys her job, she said, is that she and other staff are the "custodians" of the site.

"There's a heritage. The power station itself is a community," she said.

All the buildings on the Hinkley B site will be demolished, added Ms Fauvel.

"The main building will go into care and maintenance and in 80-odd years we'll do the final deconstruction and the land will be put to an original state."

Brothers James and Adam Gilbert stand next to each other in blue uniforms wearing orange hard hats. They are both smiling.
James and Adam Gilbert are brothers and say the staff at Hinkley are "like family"

Two brothers from Portishead, James and Adam Gilbert, both work at Hinkley Point B and said the staff were "like family".

"It doesn't feel any different to being at home. We act with respect here and we can have a laugh as well," James said.

"There's lots of family around the station - there's brothers, fathers, mothers and daughters.

"Adam started an apprenticeship and I saw he was enjoying it so I thought I'd join him. The rest is history."

Adam added: "We now get to pay a part in shaping our future and restoring the site to its natural state which is our obligation to the people.

"The whole station starts to become like an extended family."

The cooling pond at Hinkley Point B. It looks like a swimming pool and has machinery surrounding it.
The cooling pond for the nuclear fuel is currently being decommissioned

Hinkley B transfer lead Shaheed Mungur said the basic process of the decommissioning was "well understood" by the staff.

"We've done it for years, just not to this scale," he added.

"It could be seen as an end of an era - seeing the reactors fully defuelled is the end of a portion of this station's life. But there's still plenty of work to be done.

"A lot of people have got their heads around where we're heading. It's not the end of the work.

"A lot of people are looking forward to the opportunity to start reconstructing or change their careers and move across to the C-site."

Sophie Young is standing in a control room. She is wearing a white jacket and a hair net. She is smiling.
Sophie Young is one of the first women who works in the operations room

Sophie Young, who operates the crane that handles the nuclear fuel in the cooling pond, says she has to remind herself every day that she is working with nuclear fuel.

"That's why we follow our procedures so stringently," she added.

"If we don't understand something we stop and ask - because it's nuclear.

"It's so abstract but now it's bread-and-butter. I really love it. I could never see myself sitting in an office.

"It's quite empowering. Me and one other woman were the first females on operations which is quite empowering."

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