Industrial services provider Bilfinger is forging ahead with the extensive work being carried out for Hinkley Point C. The so-called Core Melt Stabilization System (CMSS), a key safety-relevant component for the power plant currently under construction, has now been completed and delivered. In the highly unlikely event of a core meltdown, this system, with its demanding engineering requirements, is designed to help restore the molten core to a secure condition after it has been released from the reactor pressure vessel.
The CMSS is a key component of the safety concept for the new nuclear power plant and consists of several structural elements weighing several tons that act as a safeguard beneath the reactor block. In the highly unlikely event of a core meltdown, this system acts as a defined predetermined breaking point and helps to bring the core meltdown to a safe condition. During regular operation, the fusible plug below the reactor pressure vessel can be used as a maintenance hole.
Bilfinger was able to draw on its many years of experience with large-scale new nuclear construction projects for the work on the CMSS. The industrial services provider had already developed the components for the first CMSS during construction of the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant in Finland, which features an EPR-type reactor. Further CMSS components for reactors of the EPR type were delivered to plants in Flamanville, France, and Taishan, China.
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