More than £1bn-worth of nuclear contracts have been awarded to date to 200-plus companies in the East of England, according to latest figures from the Hinkley Point C project in Somerset.
The nuclear plant – which provides a useful blueprint for the proposed Sizewell C scheme – is now five years into the build, and has seen its overall workforce climb to 22,000 as it reaches the next stages of construction.
A prefabricated 17m high section of the first reactor building at Hinkley is ready to be lifted into place and an ‘Arabelle’ turbine is due to arrive later this year. Training has begun for the first cohort of power station operators.
If all goes to plan, bosses at EDF, the energy company steering the projects, are hoping the Suffolk nuclear scheme may get the go-ahead from business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng in spring 2022.
EDF bosses say the Somerset scheme has already exceeded the socio-economic targets set and hope the Leiston project – if approved – will mirror or even surpass this.
Source: Sarah Chambers – Business reporter – EADT
Photo: Warren Page