France’s Framatome and UK Sizewell C have signed a contract for the procurement, qualification and pre-assembly of conventional field instrumentation (CFI) for the two EPR nuclear power plant units under construction in Suffolk, England.
Framatome will supply and integrate over 8,000 state-of-the-art field instrumentation systems, essential for monitoring and controlling temperatures, flows, pressures, levels, within the NPP. These instruments monitor and capture the status of systems throughout the entire power plant at every moment and provide essential feedback to the operators in the control room for safe, reliable 24/7 operation.
“We are proud to extend our partnership with Sizewell C through this agreement,” said Frédéric Lelièvre, Senior Executive Vice President, Sales, Regional Platforms and Instrumentation and Control Business Unit at Framatome. “Our expertise in instrumentation and control systems will contribute significantly to the successful delivery of Sizewell C, supporting the UK’s ambitious goals for clean and sustainable energy.”
Framatome is already contracted by Sizewell C to supply the nuclear heat production systems, safety instrumentation and control systems, and fuel supply. In addition to the CFI agreement, Framatome also signed a contract for the supply of the Ultimate Diesel Generators to be controlled by Framatome’s digital control systems.
Sizewell C, majority-owned by the British government and EDF, is expected to feature two EPRs producing 3.2 GW of electricity, enough to power the equivalent of around six million homes for at least 60 years. It would be a similar design to the two-unit plant under construction at Hinkley Point C in Somerset, with the aim of building it more quickly and at lower cost as a result of the experience gained at Hinkley Point.
Nigel Cann, Sizewell C Joint Managing Director, said: “It’s another big step forward for Sizewell C, and it demonstrates once again the strategic advantage that replication gives us: because we’re using the same design as Hinkley Point C, we’ve been able to secure this equipment immediately after they have ordered their equivalent instrumentation, without any costly changes or re-engineering, reducing the risk of the equipment becoming obsolete. Design certainty gives us the flexibility to make these orders much earlier in the process and ensure we have components ready for when we need them – it’s one of the reasons we’re uniquely placed to deliver a project that is so important for energy security in the UK.”
