UK utility EDF has unveiled a new engineering design centre in Bristol to support the next phase of construction at the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station.
By 2021, some 700 engineers from EDF and partners, Framatome UK, Atkins, Jacobs, Assystem, Anotech and Vulcain, will work at the UK EPR Design Centre.
The centre will bring an additional 300 jobs to Britain to support the design, construction and commissioning of UK EPR nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point C in Somerset and Sizewell C in Suffolk.
The centre will build the long-term skills needed to support the operation of the power stations.
Solutions to be developed at the centre will play a vital part in the delivery of Britain’s ambition to fight climate change and reach net-zero emissions.
For Sizewell C much of the design of Hinkley Point C will be replicated, reducing risk to cost and schedule.
Tilly Spencer, director of Edvance UK, said: “The UK EPR Design Centre creates a collaborative environment with key strategic partners to grow the UK’s design engineering long term capability and skills. We are bringing together a diverse group of people with the right skills and experience of the UK context and global nuclear industry which will help us as we move into the next phases of construction at Hinkley Point C and look ahead to replicate not only the design, but also the learnings, at Sizewell.”
