The company which runs Didcot Power Station has called off the search for workers still missing from February’s collapse, saying it is too dangerous to continue.
RWE said the recovery operation has reached the 50m exclusion zone, imposed around the remainder of the structure because of its instability, and that the rest of the power station will have to be demolished before the search can resume.
The collapse of the site’s boiler house on 23 February resulted in the death of one man and left three demolition workers unaccounted for. Since the incident there have been ongoing recovery efforts to locate the missing men, Ken Cresswell, John Shaw and Chris Huxtable.
In a statement, RWE said: “Our contractors have now reached the 50m safety exclusion zone, which is in place as the remainder of the structure is currently considered unstable. Sadly, this means that, until the remaining standing structure can be safely brought down, we have restricted access to the recovery area.
“We understand that the time it is taking to recover these men is deeply distressing for their families, and we are in contact with them. Our absolute priority is to recover their loved ones as quickly and as safely as possible.”
Speaking at the time of the incident, Howard Button, president of the National Federation of Demolition Contractors, told CM that the collapse could lead to a rethink on the Construction (Design & Management) regulations.
He said: “The company involved, Coleman & Company, are a very experienced company, their procedures are second to none. Nobody can understand what has gone tragically wrong.
“It could take months or years to find out, but we are expecting that eventually there will be some new guidelines in place for demolition and possibly lead to new ones by the HSE to make things clearer and standards tighter, as it’s been such a serious incident.”
