The Sizewell B nuclear reactor has been closed down temporarily as part of a major multi-million pound overhaul and to enable refuelling and other works to improve the efficiency of the plant's operations.

The two-month "outage" means the reactor will not be generating electricity for 2.5million homes. These events typically happen every 18 months to enable important maintenance work to be carried out.

However, during these shutdowns, contingency plans are put in place which could mean sourcing power from other sources to make up the shortfall, including supplies from the European continent and using renewables, such as wind power.

READ MORE: Sizewell B: Thousands of workers arrive for major outage

To enable the works to take place, a thousand temporary staff are drafted in to join the 850 full time employees at the site, which is owned by power firm EDF.

As well as replacing a third of the fuel assemblies in the reactor, giant rotors in one of the station's turbine generators will also be replaced.

Robert Gunn, station director at Sizewell B, said: "These outage periods are tremendously important for us.

READ MORE: Suffolk's Sizewell B back on line after successful outage

The turbine hall at Sizewell BThe turbine hall at Sizewell B (Image: Sonya Duncan) "They allow us to examine our plant in a way that we can't do when we are generating and they give us the chance to complete major improvement projects.

"Beyond this, they are important for the Suffolk economy.

"When we undertake an outage we need help from hundreds of external contractors who then live, shop and eat locally while the work is ongoing.

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"During this outage we will bring in more than 1,000 extra staff to deliver more than 12,000 tasks.

Robert Gunn, station director at Sizewell BRobert Gunn, station director at Sizewell B (Image: Sizewell B) "This brings in millions of pounds of extra income to our area's hotels, restaurants and shops.

"And it doesn't stop there, we also use local companies to complete work for us.

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"This time, for example, Bungay-based precision machining solutions firm Webb Engineering will be helping us complete these works."

Sizewell B started producing electricity in 1995 and has since generated more than 258 terawatt hours of power.

During this outage, detailed inspections are also set to take place of the reactors, along with an examination of the high pressure pipework across the reactor system.