Mannheim, Germany-based industrial service company Bilfinger said Wednesday it had landed a contract to design two core melt stabilization systems in the new Hinklley Point C nuclear power station under construction in Somerset, England.
The company announced that it was "expanding" its ties to French utility EDF through EDF's NNB subsidiary. EDF has controlling interest in the Hinkley Point C project.
"In the event of a core meltdown, these systems bring the molten core to a safe state once it has left the reactor pressure vessel (RPV)," the company explained. "Bilfinger is thus engineering equipment that is essential for the safety of the power plant."
Bilfinger has been involved in the planning and delivery of a conditioning plant to treat solid and liquid radioactive waste since 2017. Hinkley Point C is currently under construction and will have two reactors of the type EPR™ (European Pressurized Reactor). The conditioning plant will be used to identify and sort operational waste, to reduce its volume and subsequently cement it. The treatment of radioactive waste will mostly be carried out remotely in a hot cell.
Bilfinger has many years of experience in major nuclear projects. For the construction of the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant in Finland with an EPR reactor, the industrial services provider developed the components for the first-of-its-kind CMSS, from the system’s design to its commissioning. Further CMSS components for EPR™ reactors were also delivered to Flammanville, France and Taishan, China.
Bilfinger was recognized as a strategic supplier to EDF’s Hinkley Point C project already in 2018 and has since received contracts worth 90 million euros for design preparation, planning and waste treatment as well as for execution design, supplier management, pipework fabrication and installation of auxiliary systems. EDF has also reaffirmed their intention to award NSSS (Nuclear Steam Supply System) contract to Bilfinger. The award is expected later in 2020.