SUPPLY CHAIN | BUILDING EXPERIENCE
Raising the bar across the nuclear supply chain
What has an SME Tier 2 welding and pressure-vessel fabrication business in Mid Glamorgan got in common with the global behemoths of nuclear engineering? Given that a whole supply chain is being drawn into a process of business and engineering improvement, the answer is actually quite a lot. Going nuclear is good
Julian Vance-Daniel
Director of Vessco Engineering, part of the LTi Metaltech group
THIS YEAR THE UK GOVERNMENT announced plans to build up to eight new nuclear reactors in the UK. The move is aimed at improving the country’s energy independence and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as well as creating thousands of new jobs. At present though, the only stations planned or under construction in the UK are EDF’s European Pressurised Water Reactors (EPR), at Hinkley and Sizewell, with two reactors at each site. The commitment to the nuclear build programme will, it is hoped, not only deliver the generating capacity required. If all the goals in the government’s development strategy are met, nuclear could provide 20-25% of UK electricity needs by 2050. Nuclear development at this scale will also bring significant economic benefits to the UK, including to the supply chain needed to construct these power plants. Successful delivery will also strengthen the perception of the UK supply chain, which will be important given that foreign competition is strong. Indeed, UK firms will face a significant challenge from overseas companies vying for the same work. An expanded and more capable supply chain should be well positioned to access new home and export markets, and implicit in this is a focus on enhanced quality. One could reasonably ask what all this has got to do with a medium-sized fabrication business in South Wales? Actually, quite a lot because the transfer of knowledge and
enhanced processes gained directly from experience of working in this ultra-safety-regulated and highly rigorous sector has undoubtedly impacted the quality of delivery in other market sector applications.
The key to knowledge transfer For obvious reasons, material-sourcing and provenance is vital in the manufacture of all pressure systems, but for the nuclear industry especially its importance in the manufacture of components is on a completely different scale. Materials’ cleanliness and welding perfection are prerequisites, but by far the most important factor demanded by principals and Tier 1 contractors in nuclear is safety – for workers and of course end-users. The Hinkley Point C project, which started in 2018,
involves the fabrication of a series of enormous deaerators and feed water tanks, each weighing in at 330 tonnes. So large in fact that they will need to be shipped in sections and completed on site. These vessels alone have been a three-year labour of love, such is the tonnage and size of each vessel – exceeded in dimension only by the main reactor vessels themselves. Each, once assembled and in place, must be able to
withstand 20 bar pressure and temperatures ranging from ambient to 200 degrees. Manufactured in three sections,
Above: Sizewell is another of the UK’s eight reactor development sites Photo credit: Phil Silverman/
Shutterstock.com 38 | December 2022 |
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