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In Pictures: Hinkley Point C polar crane installed

Wednesday, 6 December 2023

The 750-tonne polar crane has been lifted into place on the first reactor building at the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant, which is being built in southwest England by EDF.

In Pictures: Hinkley Point C polar crane installed — The polar crane is 45 metres long (Image: EDF)

The polar crane is able to rotate 360 degrees around the top of the reactor building and will be used to install heavy equipment during construction, such as the reactor and steam generators. It will also be used when the power station is operational for refuelling and maintenance.

It is one of the last pieces of equipment to be installed in the reactor building before the dome is lifted into place, which is expected to happen in the coming weeks.

The lift was carried out by the giant crane, known as Big Carl (Image: EDF)

Components were made across Europe, including Spain, Holland, France and Poland, before arriving at APCO's factory in Switzerland and later being transported for assembly at Hinkley Point C (Image: EDF)

The crane will be able to fully rotate once in position at the top of the reactor building (Image: EDF)

Hinkley Point C, construction of which began in December 2018, is composed of two EPR reactors of 1630 MWe each which will be capable of generating low-carbon electricity for 60 years.