Big Carl, the world’s largest crane, lifted a 551-ton reactor pressure vessel (RPV) into place at Hinkley Point C in southwest England during construction of Unit 2 of the nuclear reactor. The lifting and installation operation took two days to complete and has already outpaced the construction of Unit 1, which began a year earlier. 

Even though nuclear energy is making a comeback in nations seeking to balance energy demand with carbon emissions, the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station has been in the works for over two decades.  The UK government had plans to expand nuclear power stations at the site way back in 1981. 

However, opposition to these plans delayed any major activity on the ground till the the late 2000s. French energy major EDF then partnered with China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) in July 2016, with the project expected to be completed by 2025. Delays due to the COVID pandemic and Brexit have pushed the project completion to 2030, as engineers work on innovative ways to meet the deadline. 

Big Carl

On Thursday, 27th May, engineers began lifting the 500-tonne reactor pressure vessel (RPV) with the world’s largest land-based crane. Called Big Carl, the crane is a Sarens SGC-250, which can soar over 800 feet (250 m) high while lifting up to 5,000 tonnes. 

The RPV manufactured by Framatome’s Saint Marcel factory in France was shipped to the site in January this year. Deploying Big Carl, the engineers lifted the 42-foot (13 m) RPV inside the reactor building, where it was rotated to a vertical position by a large internal polar crane and then lowered onto a support ring. 

The operation lasted two days and involved clearances as little as 1.5 inches (40 mm) on either side. While Units 1 and 2 at Hinkley Point C are identical, engineers used a large temporary overhead lifting system to install the RPV for Unit 1. Deploying Big Carl on this occasion saved space, time, and money for the project.

Faster than Unit-1

Engineers at Hinkley Point C are using their first-hand experience from Unit 1 installations to speed up construction of Unit 2. Although construction for Unit 1 began in December 2018 and for Unit 2 in December 2019, Unit 2 is being built at up to 30 percent the speed of Unit 1. 

For instance, the Unit-2 reactor building now has three heat exchangers installed, whereas Unit-1 has none. The RPV is designed to generate steam and heat for the world’s largest turbines, which will eventually power six million homes. 

“This marks a tremendous achievement by the entire team and one that has taken months of planning and close coordination between the 10 main contractors involved,” said Simon Parsons, Hinkley Point C’s delivery director, in a statement. 

“We’ve also seen strong innovation to achieve not just a ‘cut and paste’ from the first reactor’s installation, but using our experience to save time, money and disruption to the site.”

The innovations at Hinkley Point C will also be used during the construction phase at Sizewell C, another nuclear power plant being built with EDF. Both Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C will feature EDF’s 3rd-generation 1,630-MW pressurized water reactors. 

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