Bradwell Power Station is unlikely to start generating electricity again until the middle of next month.

The two reactors were shut down in April following the discovery of debris in a fuel channel in Reactor One. Reactor Two was then closed down as a precaution.

A spokesman for British Nuclear Fuels Limited Magnox Generation which runs the station said: "Once removed completely, the debris will be examined at our group support office in Gloucestershire and we should then have answers to our questions.

"Even though early indications are that just one channel is affected, we will be carrying out thorough inspections of several hundred channels on both reactors and that will take some time.

"We do not expect either reactor to return to service before the middle of next month at the earliest but meantime we are taking the opportunity to bring forward a large part of the work planned later this year for the reactor's overhaul."

Engineers carrying out routine inspections on Reactor One last month noticed a valve linkage - which operates the gas supply to the fuelling equipment - was incorrectly assembled even though it remained fully functional.

New valve linkages have been installed and others connected with the fuelling equipment have been inspected and no faults found.

This incident has been rated zero (an incident with no safety significance) on the International Nuclear Event Scale.

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