Sizewell B delivers world class performance

By Marjorie Barnes | Published on 12 February 2018 | 3 min read

Sizewell B nuclear power station has produced over 200 billion units (kilowatt hours) of low carbon electricity since the start of operation in February 1995.

This milestone is the equivalent to powering 50 million homes in the UK for one full year and saving 70million tonnes of Co2 emissions, the equivalent of taking all cars in the UK off the road for a year.

Furthermore, today marks 504 days of very reliable, continuous generation at Sizewell B following the completion of the outage in June 2016.

Today, Sizewell B is temporarily brought offline for refuelling and maintenance work.  This £60m investment will see an additional 1,000 specialist workers join the station’s 550 employees to carry out the work.

EDF Energy’s investment in the UK’s nuclear power stations has resulted in improved performance and an output that is now 60% higher than a decade ago.

Mark Gorry, EDF Energy’s Chief Nuclear Officer, said:  “The Sizewell B team continue to deliver world class safety and operational results, providing much needed reliable, low carbon electricity for the UK. This latest operational run of 504 days was supported by targeted investment and excellent teamwork and saw the station complete a major milestone of having produced 200 billion units of electricity since commissioning.”

Refuelling and maintenance at Sizewell B

The station is brought offline every 18 months for this work to take place.  A third of the fuel is replaced in the reactor and thousands of maintenance jobs are completed during the 6 week period.

Contracts have been awarded to dozens of UK firms to assist with the work taking place.  In Suffolk and Norfolk companies such as Tecflo in Great Yarmouth, J.T. Pegg & Sons in Aldeburgh and LEC Marine in Lowestoft, will once again join Sizewell B employees to complete work at the power station.

Sizewell B has one reactor and two turbine generators which produced enough power for 2.5million homes last year.

Preparation work for the outage begins at least two years ahead of refuelling the reactor as part of a ten year strategic outage plan for the station.

Firms in Suffolk and Norfolk awarded contracts for Sizewell’s refuelling and maintenance work include:

Company Location Service provided
H W Webb Engineering Bungay Components
LEC Marine Lowestoft Electrical equipment
Suffolk Welding Easton Load spreading plates
Tecflo Great Yarmouth Pipework and fittings
Pirtek Ipswich Hoses and fittings
SSCS Great Yarmouth Lifting equipment
J.T.Pegg & Son’s Aldeburgh Steelwork

 

Other firms in the UK awarded contracts for Sizewell’s refuelling and maintenance work include:

Doosan Babcock – Mechanical work and welding
Applus – Inspection work
Cape – Access & Insulation work
Weirs – Specialist valve and pump services
GE – Turbine maintenance
Workplace Solutions – Facilities and services management
James Fisher Marine – Offshore divers
Rolls Royce – Remote inspection work

Posted by Marjorie Barnes

The Sizewell C comms team brings you news, updates, blogs and information on the Sizewell C project.