CONTINUED generation at Oldbury Power Station could bring a welcome jobs boost to the region.

The reactors at the 40-year-old power station should have stopped at the end of last year but the station is now expected to keep powering the nation well into 2011.

That decision has meant all 470 workers at the site will keep their jobs and because of the expected retirement of some workers, the station will have to recruit 30 new members of staff.

Speaking at a meeting of the Oldbury Site Stakeholder Group (SSG) last week, Joe Lamonby, site director, said: "When I announced over the tannoy to the staff that we could continue generating you could hear the cheers.

"On Oldbury site there were 470 nervous workers who did not know what they would be doing after Christmas if generation had stopped.

"Because of retirement we are expecting to lose 15 to 20 staff a year so over the next couple of years we will be recruiting and we will be able to train them on site."

To be able to continue generating electricity at Oldbury a full safety review of the site and the two reactors had to be completed and a business case had to be presented to the National Decommissioning Authority (NDA).

Mr Lamonby said: "There are several reasons that generation should be continued at Oldbury. Oldbury has been well maintained and is in good condition. There are a lot of previous members of staff who can take a great deal of pride.

"There are also economic grounds for keeping it going. Electricity prices are very good at the moment and in terms of Oldbury’s income that’s good news. Oldbury could produce £10 million worth of electricity a month."

Reactor one will generate for a further 22 months and reactor two will be able to generate for nine months.

At the Oldbury SSG meeting concerns were also raised about the sale of land at the power station and the impact continued power generation could have on local health.

In response to these concerns Malcolm Lynden, chairman of the meeting, said David Atkinson, the NDA’s property manager, and representatives from the local health service and the Environment Agency would attend the next SSG meeting on April 22, at a location to be confirmed.