Back on track; JUST FIVE MONTHS AFTER THIS FIRE METAL PLANT IS...Byline: By OWEN HUGHES
ANGLESEY Aluminium Anglesey Aluminium Metal Ltd. is a joint venture between Rio Tinto Group, Kaiser Aluminium and Chemical Corporation. Its corporate motto is If it's not safe, don't do it that way. has finally become fully operational five months after a huge fire triggered a critical shutdown. Last June the smelter, which employs 500 workers in Holyhead, came close to disaster after an extended loss of power. The shutdown left a repair bill believed to be around pounds 10m and slashed production for five months. But this week managing director David Bloor David Bloor is a professor in, and a former director of, the 'Science Studies Unit' at the University of Edinburgh (see Edinburgh School). He started his academic career in philosophy and psychology. told the Daily Post the plant was now running normally and full production was days away. The news is a boost to the local economy as the company bids for its survival beyond 2009 when its existing power deal with Wylfa power station allowing it to obtain cheap electricity comes to an end. Mr Bloor said: "This has been huge, it has been an enormous effort by all involved at the plant and it has taken expertise from around the world for this to happen. "We are delighted we are now at this stage, we always said this was temporary and even in the days after it happened we were thinking about how long it would be before we were back to full production. "We are a month ahead of schedule and there have been no incidents in carrying out the work, which is hazardous. "We always felt we had a future here and this plant is no way near the end of its working life. We are now chasing that power deal to keep going. "The investment that has been put in though shows the commitment from everyone to this business and we think we have a future here." The fire broke out on June 12 in a 132 kilovolt kilovolt (kil´  vōlt),n the unit of electrical potential equal to 1000 volts. transformer supplying the works and spread to 8,800 gallons of transformer oil. Five fire engines and one foam carrier from Caernarfon were used to contain the blaze, which sent thick black smoke billowing bil·low n. 1. A large wave or swell of water. 2. A great swell, surge, or undulating mass, as of smoke or sound. v. bil·lowed, bil·low·ing, bil·lows v.intr. 1. over the A55 at Holyhead. It forced plant bosses to cut the power for four hours to allow firefighters access to the site. As exclusively revealed by the Daily Post, the power stoppage sawtemperatures drop below the 900 degrees Celsius needed to keep the smelter process running. Despite severe damage to the two pot lines that slashed production by two-thirds, the worst case scenario
Worst Case Scenario is a reality show aired on TBS in 2002 in the U.S.. of a complete shutdown was avoided. But even now the future is uncertain due to the continuing question mark over power to the plant, which is owned by Rio Tinto and Kaiser Aluminum Corp. When the existing contract ends in September 2009 the company will be exposed to current market power prices unless a new viable deal can be reached. A spokesman from Kaiser said: "While Anglesey continues to pursue affordable power beyond the September 2009 contract expiration, it additionally is evaluating other strategic alternatives, including a potential facility shutdown." Anglesey Aluminium uses around 13% of Wales' total energy consumption and last year it produced 148,000 metric tonnes of primary aluminum. It has an annual turnover of pounds 130m. owen.hughes@dailypost.co.uk CAPTION(S): MD David Bloor; Anglesey Aluminium is now back to full production after being severely damaged in a serious blaze says the plant's managing director David Bloor |
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