Cooling water holds installed in seabed
The six concrete heads, which make up a vital part of the cooling water system, have been safely installed on the Bristol Channel seabed ahead of schedule. The operation relied on close collaboration between Balfour Beatty, contractor Mammoet and New Waves Solutions, which brought specialist knowledge to deliver the lifts safely. The lifts, completed by two floating cranes, named Gulliver and Rambiz, could only take place during tight windows due to the conditions of the Bristol Channel, which has the second highest tidal range in the world.
Beams arrive for polar crane
The last major components for Unit 1’s polar crane have arrived at HPC. The two beams will eventually carry the large gantry polar crane as it swivels around the dome of the reactor building and manoeuvres heavy components into place during construction, maintenance work and refuelling.
Coating work to start on liner ring
Unit 1’s liner ring 3 has been lifted by Big Carl from Bunker LB6 to Slab 8 to allow coating work to be carried out before the structure is installed in the reactor building in November. It will be the final ring to be installed before the dome can be placed.
New training centre opens on site
A new HPC Quality Control Training Centre is now active across the main civils programme. The centre is a joint Bylor and EDF initiative and will initially be focused on rebar installation works. Some 20 people will be trained per session. To date, 157 people have been trained in both theory and practical-based learning using a training cage that mimics the complexities of the rebar works.
Construction of cooling elements begins
All pipe spools for Unit 1 dome’s containment heat removal system (EVU) have been fully installed. The next steps will be the fitting of HVAC ducting and electrical containments. Inside the reactor pit, construction of cooling elements for the core melt stabilisation system (RSC) has begun. The team will be carrying out more than 1,000 welds on the mechanical supports and installing more than 300 tonnes of tile-like cooling elements.
Taken from The Point September 2022
