ondon-based EDF Energy has lifted a 245-ton dome onto a reactor building using the world’s largest construction crane.
The new nuclear plant in Somerset, Hinkley Point C, will feature twin nuclear reactors. It is the first nuclear plant under construction in Britain in 30 years.
Once operational, these will provide zero-carbon electricity for more than six million homes, a report from the BBC reveals.
The dome for Hinkley Point C’s Unit 2 building is 14 meters tall (roughly 45 feet) and is made of 900 welds. Mounted onto the building, the entire structure is 44 meters tall.
The engineers behind the development have used prefabrication to speed up the process and bring the plant online as soon as possible. EDF Energy says the site is projected to open in 2031. The opening is five years later than originally planned, due in large part to delays caused by the pandemic. The Hinkley Point C project is costing UK taxpayers a total of £26 billion (approx. $33 billion).
In a press statement, Hinkley Point C CEO Stuart Crooks said, “restarting the industry has been hard, but the second of our two identical units shows the big benefits of repeating an identical design. The build and repeat method is the best way to build new nuclear with time savings already at 20-30 percent.”
Big Carl: The world’s largest construction crane
To lift the dome into place, constructors used an SGC-250 crane nicknamed “Big Carl” after Carl Serens, the founder of the company that made the crane.
According to a report from PBC Today, Big Carl features 96 wheels and is powered by 12 engines, allowing it to operate over 6 kilometers of track. The enormous system has a maximum capacity of 5,000 tons. It uses 52 counterweight containers weighing 100 tons each.
