Hinkley Point C
Hinkley Point C
Steel core reinforced concrete is the material of choice for pipes used in critical, complex projects, in preference to polyethylene, steel, or cast iron. Prime examples of such projects are nuclear power plants, where cooling water circuits have to be 100% leak free.
For several years now, SOCEA - in collaboration with parent company Denys - has been active in the nuclear sector. A prime example of collaboration is the one at the nuclear plant Hinkley Point C - Unit 1 & 2 in Somerset - UK.
Socea-Denys designed, produced and arranged the logistics for over 700 CRF pipes for installation at Hinkley Point C, which has one of the largest cooling water circuits of its kind.
“Socea-Denys delivers,” declared the supply chain director at the Hinkley Point C (HPC) nuclear power plant project in the UK, confirming our product quality and our ability to deliver with excellence. In the course of this immense HPC project, we won four gold and three silver awards, coming out top for supply, quality, commitment, and team collaboration. We also made history with our safety action plan, a priority dear to us and which we share with our clients. The journey doesn’t stop there, as Socea-Denys has been invited to participate in the early contractor involvement program at Sizewell C, the next nuclear plant to be built in the UK.
Did you know: Certain T-pieces, which make multiple connections within the cooling water circuit, for example, have a length of 4 metres, a conic shape, with an inside diameter ranging from 3.5m to 3m and weigh no less than 42 tonnes. It takes several months to manufacture such a complex T-piece. These unique pieces require high-level technical knowledge of our workers because of the amount of precision and specialty handwork.
Did you know: A specific ‘end of manufacturing report’ is prepared for each CRF pipe, leading to the individual identification of each CRF pipe: type of pipe, manufacturing date, composition and specifications. This individual report for each CRF element must also be approved by the client. This ensures traceability, even to the origin of the different aggregates of the concrete, of each CRF element. This is a crucial factor in pursuing nuclear safety.
