First columns in place for turbine hall
The first three steel turbine columns have been installed in the turbine hall ahead of schedule. The columns, each 15m tall and weighing 32 tonnes, are designed to support a reinforced concrete ‘table’ where the turbines will eventually sit. There will be 15 in total and each column will be filled with 70m3 of concrete to support the weight of the structure and the turbines.
Contractor WHL is fabricating all 15 columns in its facility near Newport. The columns travel to Cardiff to be coated with a special surface protection, before completing their journey to HPC.
Cooling water tanks installed
The MEH (Mechancial, Electrical, Heating) Alliance is playing a key role in the installation of the equipment that forms part of the safety systems for the nuclear reactors, with a current focus on the Containment Heat Removal System (EVU).
The EVU is a nuclear safety-related system that provides cooling in the unlikely event of a severe accident. The first two EVU tanks have been installed.
Two more tunnel boring machines at site
Two tunnel boring machines, known as Emmeline and Beatrice, have been assembled on site over the last few months. Emmeline will mine the outfall tunnel that forms part of the cooling water system for the reactors. Beatrice will be working on the second intake tunnel.
Emmeline’s work begins first. Her job, along with the team that works with her, will be to mine a 1.8km-long tunnel, 33 metres under the Bristol Channel. Beatrice, will launch next year once the first tunnel boring machine one site, Mary, has finished the first intake tunnel.
New engineering centre opened
The UK EPR Design Centre at Aztec West, in Bristol, has been officially opened to support the project. The centre draws on experience from other European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) construction projects. It will help drive efficiency and productivity, both in the short-term and for the long-term future of EPR construction in the UK.
The centre brings together the expertise of nuclear designers and sngineers from EDF and its engineering partners and suppliers, including Edvance, Atkins, Framatome UK, Jacobs and more, to strengthen the country’s nuclear expertise. The centre will also play a vital part in the delivery of the UK’s ambition to fight climate change and reach net zero emissions.
Taken from The Point September 2020