EDF Awards Contracts On New British Nuclear Reactors at Sizewell and Hinckley Point.

[NNadir]

Engineering and project management company Amec has been awarded a contract by EDF Group to help in the construction of proposed new reactors at the Hinkley Point and Sizewell nuclear power plant sites in the UK.

Under the 11-year contract, Amec will support EDF's architect engineering operation for the proposed delivery of two Areva EPR reactors at each of the two sites. The contract has an option to be extended for a further four years.

Amec will work with EDF in France and the UK in the key areas of project management, engineering and construction management. Amec will also be responsible for assisting the EDF Group project management teams with engineering and site management activities, together with providing specific engineering studies for the non-nuclear sections of plant in the power stations...

...EDF Energy is expected to submit a planning application for the two-unit Hinkley Point C plant in early August, which could be approved by mid-2011. EDF plans to begin preparing the site before the end of 2010, pending separate local permission. Subject to a favourable outcome from the Health and Safety Executive's assessment of the Areva EPR design in June 2011, construction of the plant could start in early 2012. The plan is for the first reactor to operate before the end of 2017, with the second following about 18 months later. The two EPRs at Hinkley Point C will have a total capacity of 3300 MWe.

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN-Amec_awarded_contract_for_new_UK_plants-2204105.html">Amec awarded contract for new UK plants.

According to data easily obtained on the Danish Energy Agency Website, the continuous average power rating of all the wind turbines in Denmark is about 790 MWe. Note that this is based on the energy produced by the wind turbines as opposed to some marketing scam discussing their peak power rating when the wind is blowing exactly the right speed to power them without blowing them into flying shards of metal.

At 1650 MWe each, either one of the reactors would need to operate at just 47% of capacity utilization to produce as much energy as all the whirling wind metal in Denmark. This is relatively easy for nuclear reactors to do: Most operate at about 90% of capacity utilization, making them the most reliable energy producing machines on the planet, bar none.

Thus we may expect the two reactors to produce four times as much pure electrical energy in two relatively small buildings as all of the wind turbines strewn across the entire nation of Denmark.

[Nihil]

1. Good.

I have no problem with further reactors at existing sites (i.e., not a brand-new
greenfield site but one with the appropriate infrastructure already in place)
such as Sizewell, Hinckley Point, Sellafield, Heysham, Oldbury and Wylfa.
I object to the creation of new sites (e.g., past proposals for Braystones
and Kirksanton).

:thumbsup: