A Teesside nuclear power station could remain out of action until the end of the year. Hartlepool Power Station was one of four nuclear reactors shut down by EDF Energy because of safety concerns after a fault was found in a station of a similar design. In August, plant owner EDF Energy said the inspections of the reactor would take around eight weeks to complete. Today an EDF spokesman said: "We found a defect with the boiler at the reactor of Haysham 1 Power Station in Lancashire and, as a precautionary measure, we decided to temporarily shut down Hartlepool Power Station, which is of a similar design, to carry out checks. "Following our initial inspections nothing at all has been found at the Hartlepool reactor." EDF said that in the coming weeks they would be focusing on completing inspections and work to build a case for the safe continuing operation of the boilers. This "safety case" would then be subject to approval from the independent nuclear regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation.