World's biggest crane lifts 154ft-wide steel ring at £20billion nuclear power plant Hinkley Point  | Daily Mail Online

2022-07-30 08:41:03 By : Ms. Nick Li

By Kate Dennett For Mailonline

Published: 08:08 EDT, 16 November 2021 | Updated: 12:10 EDT, 16 November 2021

These impressive photographs capture the moment the world's largest crane lifted a massive steal ring to help build a new nuclear power plant.

Nicknamed 'Big Carl', the super-crane placed the first 55ft steel ring section on the second reactor building at the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station site near Bridgwater, Somerset, on Monday. 

The crane stands at 820ft tall and is higher than several famous structures, including London's Gherkin tower, the London Eye and Big Ben.

The prefabricated steel ring is the first of three, which each have a diameter of 154ft, to be installed and they will form the reinforced cylinder around the second nuclear reactor at the new £23billion power station.

The project to build the 3,200 megawatt electrical (MWe) nuclear power station began in October 2020 and is expected to be completed by 2025. It is predicted to cost more than £23billion. 

Along with the steel ring, the SGC-250 crane, which weighs around 10,000 tonnes and has a reach of 900ft, will lift more than 500 prefabricated steel and concrete elements weighing up to 1,600 tonnes as part of the build.

Nicknamed 'Big Carl', the huge crane, which stands at 820ft tall, placed the first 55ft steel ring section (pictured) on the second reactor building at the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station site in Somerset on Monday

Along with the steel ring, Big Carl (pictured), which weighs around 10,000 tonnes and has a reach of 900ft, will lift more than 500 prefabricated steel and concrete elements weighing up to 1,600 tonnes as part of the build

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Owned and operated by Belgian-based crane company Sarens, Big Carl can carry 5,000 tonnes in a single lift. It was named after Carl Sarens, the father of the Belgian family business which made it.

According to WorldSteel.org, the crane can lift 20 planes, 63 trains, 126 trucks and 1,408 elephants. 

After being constructed in Belgium, it was transported to the UK in 2019, after being split into several pieces across 280 trucks.

After arriving at the site in Somerset, it was painstakingly put back together using five smaller cranes.

After 10 weeks, Big Carl was booted up in August last year and it began its first lift just one month later. It is scheduled to work on the Somerset site for four years in a £20million contract, supported by 52 other tower cranes.

Engineers at the nuclear power station site carried out the exact task installing the steel rings on the first reactor 11 months ago, and they are now building an identical copy of the first reactor to drive efficiency and save time.

The first ring for Unit 2 was built 25 per cent more quickly than the same part on Unit 1, requiring thousands of hours less labour to manufacture.

The prefabricated ring forms a reinforced cylinder around the nuclear reactor, which is the first nuclear power station to be built in the UK in more than 20 years.

It is the first of three prefabricated steel rings (pictured), which each have a diameter of 154ft, to form the reinforced cylinder around the second nuclear reactor at the new £23billion power station

The project to build the 3,200 megawatt electrical (MWe) nuclear power station began in October 2020 and is expected to be completed by 2025. It is predicted to cost more than £23billion. Pictured: Big Carl lifting the steel ring at the site on Monday

This 'replication effect' will benefit the identical £20billion Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk, which could generate enough electricity for around 7 per cent of the UK's power demand.

Simon Parsons, Nuclear Island Area, Site & Civils Director, said: 'This significant lift is testament to everyone involved - from the teams who fabricated it, to those on Unit 2 who've delivered the civil-works schedule enabling us to install it and also the lifting team themselves. 

Cost: The power station is expected to cost £20billion to build, but the figure could rise by the time of its completion. In 2017, EDF warned that there could be another £700million in costs. 

Completion date : Hinkley Point is the first new nuclear power station in the UK since Sizewell B in 1995. It is not expected to start delivering power to the national grid until 2027

Workers employed :  There are 4,000 people now working at Hinkley Point C. Half of them are from the local area and a quarter are from Wales.

Amount of concrete used : 3million tonnes of concrete will be required during Hinkley Point C's construction and 9,000 cubic metres of concrete was poured into the base of the first reactor. It is the largest ever concrete pour in the UK, beating the Shard in London

Steel used in the base of the first reactor: 5,000 tonnes 

'We have continued to learn from Unit 1 to safely deliver a quality product.. Well done one and all.'

The plant, owned by EDF energy, will feature two European Pressurised Reactors (EPRs). It will produce enough energy to power six million homes.

The power station was one of eight nuclear sites announced by the government in 2010. In November 2012, a nuclear site licence was granted to go ahead with the project and EDF later approved the scheme.

Hinkley Point is already home to Hinkley Point A, a nuclear power plant which was decommissioned in 2000, and Hinkley Point B, which is expected to be decommissioned next year.

In total, the UK currently has 15 operational nuclear reactors at seven locations across the UK, including at Dungeness in Kent and Sizewell in Suffolk. 

But the UK's current nuclear fleet, which provides about 17 per cent of our electricity needs, is being retired.

Seven out of the eight existing power stations – all except Sizewell B – are due to be closed between now and 2030. EDF's Hinkley Point project is the only new reactor due to come on stream in 2026 with the second in 2027. 

But Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng is poised to approve funding for British engineering giant Rolls-Royce to create a fleet of mini-reactors, it was reported in September.

Ministers are understood to have adopted a 'change of focus' towards nuclear power amid the current crisis caused by rocketing global wholesale gas prices.

The Treasury, which was previously seen as the obstacle to new nuclear projects because of their rising cost, has reportedly also concluded that more nuclear power is needed. 

A source close to Chancellor Rishi Sunak said his general view was that Britain should have had a weightier focus on nuclear 'ten years ago, when it was cheaper' but added that the country 'can't rely' on wind and solar power. 

Mini reactors, known as Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), generate around 450 megawatts of power - around a seventh of what a conventional power station such as Hinkley Point produces.

Engineers carried out the exact same task on the first reactor 11 months ago, and they are now building an identical copy of the first reactor to drive efficiency and save time. Pictured: Big Carl placing the ring on the second reactor on Monday

Owned and operated by Belgian-based crane company Sarens, 'Big Carl' - or Sarens Giant Crane 250 - can carry 5,000 tonnes in a single lift. Pictured: Big Carl placing the huge steel ring on the second reactor building at the site

The prefabricated ring forms a reinforced cylinder (pictured) around the nuclear reactor, which is the first nuclear power station to be built in the UK in more than 20 years

State support for them was revealed in Prime Minister Boris Johnson's ten-point green industrial revolution plan that was released last November.

Elsewhere, new figures showed that 22,000 people across Britain are working on the Hinkley Point C power station.

There are now 6,300 workers on site, compared with 1,500 at the height of the pandemic last year. 

Final contracts for Hinkley Point C were signed five years ago and since then, 3,600 British companies have won contracts on the project.

This includes more than 400 businesses in the north of England, where spending so far has reached £1.2billion.

Managing director Stuart Crooks said: 'Hinkley Point C is essential in the fight against climate change and for Britain's energy security.

'It is delivering on its promise of boosting British jobs, skills and industry right across the country.

'Covid-19 has challenged the project and its suppliers and I am proud of the enormous efforts made to keep the site safe and moving ahead.

'As we emerge from the worst of the pandemic, we can now create more jobs as we step up construction and manufacturing for the next phase of the project.'

Hinkley Point C is a wonderful piece of French eng...

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