New waste consolidation centre opened
Waste is now being bulked and consolidated at HPC rather than at off-site locations, following the recent opening of HPC’s new waste consolidation centre (WCC). The WCC will significantly cut the number of vehicle journeys to remove waste from site – helping HPC to cut its overall carbon footprint. Designed and operated by contract partner Viridor, the WCC provides waste management services for both HPC and the two accommodation campuses. Louise Skinner, Contract Manager at Viridor, said: “We’re excited to have a new centre to support the project and we’re asking team members and contract partners to help us by segregating their waste at source. It’s all about reducing, reusing and recycling as much waste as we can – in that order!”
Site celebrates the achievements of apprentices
During National Apprenticeship Week from February 8-14, the site celebrated its numerous apprentices who had sought to balance work, study and a new social normality during the current pandemic. In addition to the hundreds of new starters welcomed to site each year, many apprentices have already graduated and moved onto permanent roles on the project. National Apprenticeship Week was a chance to recognise the fantastic personal achievements of them all, as well as their efforts on the project. There was also a talk by Stuart Crooks about his journey from apprentice to HPC Managing Director! The project has, so far, created 700 apprenticeships.
Big Carl keeps hitting milestones
The world’s biggest crane, Big Carl, helped the project complete a number of significant milestones, the first being the positioning of an emergency diesel main fuel tank. Soon afterwards, the lifting team hit another milestone when the Unit 1 liner ring was skilfully manoeuvred into place. Big Carl then completed the heaviest lift of the lot – lifting a nearly 900-tonne slab which will sit above the core catcher in the Unit 1 reactor building. Paul Fry, Senior Project Manager, said: “Each of the lifts that the team delivered in 2020 came with individual engineering challenges. A big thank you to all the teams involved for working together safely to deliver such great results.”
Taken from The Point February 2021