Reactor vessel completed for Hinkley Point C's second unit

The vessel - measuring 13 metres in length and weighing 500 tonnes - was fabricated by Framatome at its Saint-Marcel plant in Chalon-sur-Saône, eastern France.

In a post on LinkedIn, EDF said that a celebration was held at the Saint-Marcel plant on 28 November to mark the completion of the vessel. "The Hinkley Point C delegation watched as the reactor was prepared for shipping to Somerset," it said.

The reactor pressure vessel is the high strength steel cylinder that will house the reactor core and all associated components, including the reactor vessel internals which support and stabilise the core within the reactor vessel, as well as providing the path for coolant flow and guiding movement of the control rods.

The reactor pressure vessel for unit 1 at Hinkley Point C was completed at Framatome's Le Creusot facility in Burgundy, central France, in December 2022. It was delivered to the plant construction site in February 2023 and was kept in storage until it was installed within the unit's reactor building in December 2024.

EDF said the Hinkley Point C delegation "also formally received the first two completed steam generators for unit 2, which will be sent later, in 2026".

_{One of the two completed steam generators (Image: EDF)}

Steam generators transfer the thermal energy generated in the reactor vessel of a pressurised water reactor from the primary (reactor) cooling system to the secondary (turbine) cooling system, producing the steam to drive the electricity generation turbine.

The first of the eight 25-metre-high, 520-tonne steam generators that the two-unit Hinkley Point C plant will feature was delivered to the site in May 2024 after a journey by sea and road. It was installed in the reactor building of unit 1 in July this year.

Construction of the first of two 1630 MWe EPR reactors at Hinkley Point C began in December 2018, with construction of unit two beginning a year later. The dome of unit 1 was put in place in December 2023. The dome was lifted into place on the second unit's containment building last week. Last year, EDF announced that the "base case" was now for unit 1 being operational in 2030, with the cost revised from GBP26 billion (USD32.8 billion) to between GBP31-34 billion, in 2015 prices. When complete, the two EPR reactors will produce enough carbon-free electricity for six million homes, and are expected to operate for as long as 80 years.