Hinkley Point C
A 500-ton steel ship containing the nuclear reactor is put into place at Hinkley Point
Workers have installed a reactor at the first nuclear power station built in Britain in 30 years.
Hundreds of engineers and construction workers worked for several days to erect the 500 tonne steel equipment at Hinkley Point C, near Bridgwater, Somerset.
“This was a huge operation for all the teams involved,” said Matt Abbott, who led the installation team. “It’s the heart of the plant.”
The 13 m long (42.6 ft) unit is one of two reactors that will contain the nuclear chain reaction that will generate enough power for six million homes, when it opens in 2030.
Matt Abbott led hundreds of construction workers who put the 'Heart of Hinkley' in place
The giant steel cylinder was hoisted over the side of the reactor building during a 12-hour operation.
It then had to be maneuvered along the rails through a giant equipment hatch, rotated 90 degrees and carefully lowered onto a prepared base.
It will remain there for 60 years of nuclear operation and decades beyond.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband called it a “major step forward”.
He said: “Making Hinkley operational to produce clean energy for six million homes will be a victory for our long-term energy independence. »
Hinkley Point C
The 13 meter long cylinder was flipped into the air by a specially designed crane and then lowered into position.
At least 12,000 people work there, alongside more than 100 cranes. The reactor will power 25m high steam generators and drive turbines with the longest blades ever made.
Yet the project was delayed by political debates, the Covid pandemic and supply chain issues.
Its opening is now planned five years later than initially planned. The estimated cost has risen to £46bn, up from £18bn forecast in 2017.
Nevertheless, the installation of the reactor constitutes an important step.
So how does it work, who made it and when will they turn it on?
How does it work?
The reactor is known as “the heart of Hinkley”.
It will contain radioactive uranium split by nuclear fission, in a chain reaction that generates a lot of heat.
Temperatures inside will average 300°C. The pressure will reach 155 bars, five times more than on a submarine at normal operating depth.
The steel ship is 25 cm thick, 13 m (42.6 ft) long and weighs 500 tonnes.
Hinkley Point C
The reactor, wrapped in white, was hoisted up to a hatch in the building which would house it for more than sixty years.
A closed loop of pressurized water will circulate around the reactor and heat up.
This heat will then be exchanged with a second loop of water, which turns into steam. The steam will drive turbines that will generate Hinkley's electricity.
Mr Abbott said: “We have two of these reactors, and each is expected to power around three million homes. So this is a huge deal and now is the start of this journey for us.”
Who did it?
The reactor took six years to make and was made in France by a company called Framatome, owned by EDF, which is building Hinkley Point C.
EDF belongs to the French state.
The creation of the reactor was a “tremendous source of pride” for Framatome employees, according to Mathieu Gaulthier, who heads the company's team in Somerset.
But why did such a central part of Britain's first new nuclear power plant in a generation have to be manufactured abroad?
Jennifer Tompkins, apprentice welder at Framatome UK in Avonmouth, operates a high-tech semi-automatic welding machine
“The last nuclear reactor built was completed in 1995,” said Ian Henderson, director of Framatome UK.
“At that time, this skill base is gone.”
The company is now trying to change that.
At a brand new factory in Avonmouth, near Bristol, they train high-level welders and fitters to the exacting standards of the nuclear industry.
For Hinkley C they make tanks and other structures. But on future nuclear projects, they hope to take on more sophisticated tasks.
Mr Henderson explained: “It has taken several years to develop these skills to where they are today, and we want to keep that going, keep investing. »
When will they turn it on?
In 2007, the French leader of EDF, Vincent de Rivaz, predicted that the British would be cooking their Christmas turkeys on the Hinkley network ten years later.
Indeed, 2017 is the year when Mr. de Rivaz left EDF. In Somerset, work was only just beginning.
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Engineers are using the world's largest land crane to lift the dome roof to the reactor building in December 2023.
As the first concrete was poured, the company announced that it would have it operational by 2025.
But that was followed by a global pandemic, a war in Ukraine and a disruption of global supply chains.
The company now hopes to start producing electricity by “the end of the decade”.
The establishment of the nuclear reactor represents an important milestone achieved.
