Full construction at Hinkley Point C got underway after EDF, its Chinese partner, CGN, and the UK Government, signed final contracts in September 2016.  The power station will supply the UK with reliable low carbon electricity to meet 7% of the country’s needs. The project is mobilised for an objective of initial delivery for unit 1 at the end of 2025.

The photograph below shows the progress being made on one of the 4,500 tonne concrete platforms on which the reactor buildings will sit. Work is advancing on reactor one with completion of its pre-stressing gallery:  this structure sits below the reactor unit and will help to strengthen the main reactor building. Work on reactor two has also begun.

Other progress at Hinkley is as follows:

• ‘Deep dig’ is complete for Unit 1: this vast excavation is 21m below sea level and will contain the 54m tall water pumping station
• 750 metres of underground concrete galleries are ready: these are the channels to house cables and pipes
• A 500m Jetty has been built to import aggregates by sea, minimising the environmental impact of construction
• Concrete production has already topped 200,000 cubic metres and. 5.3 million cubic metres of earth have been moved
• Work will be completed this year on the 760m sea wall. At 13.5m tall, it has been designed  to cope with rising sea levels for the plant’s lifetime

R-TECH Materials has already been involved in accredited independent testing of products for application at Hinkley Point C, including reinforcing bar, reinforcing coil, welded reinforcing joints, mechanical couplers and headed bars.