Hinkley Point C’s first nuclear reactor is built and ready to be delivered, it has been announced by EDF this week.
The reactor pressure vessel is the first to be built for a British power station for more than 30 years.
It is due to arrive to the Hinkley Point C site near Burnham-On-Sea at some point in 2023.
The 13m tall, high-strength steel cylinder weighs in at 500 tonnes and will hold the nuclear fuel and house the chain reaction that generates heat.
Once in use, its core will have an average temperature of 300C.
The heat will be used to create high pressure steam that will power some of the world’s largest turbines.
The Framatome team spent 80,000 engineering hours on its construction.
A second reactor is due to be built and, once installed, they are together expected to power around three million homes, a spokeswoman for the site’s operator EDF Energy said.
They are designed to run continuously for 18 months at a time between refuelling.
Framatome built the last nuclear reactor to be installed in Britain – Sizewell B in Suffolk, which is also run by EDF.
Since becoming operational in 1991, Sizewell B has provided 247 terawatt hours of power, according to the energy company.
The company said this was enough power to run every home in Britain for two-and-a-half years.
The building to house the reactor is still being built.
On Monday, the world’s largest crane Big Carl lifted the final 11.6m prefabricated steel ring into place on Unit One. The building now stands at 44m high.
Big Carl lifted the first Hinkley Point C ring into place in December 2020, the second in April 2021, and the world’s biggest crane lifted a 347-tonne steel ring into place at Hinkley Point in March this year.
Earlier this year, EDF confirmed that there would be a further year-long delay and £3bn cost increase.
This delayed the start date for the Unit 1 reactor to June 2027, with the cost sitting at £25bn to £26bn, up from the previous £23bn figure. The power station will supply 6M homes with energy.
