EDF has opened a new engineering design centre which will support the next phase of construction at the Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C nuclear plants.
The UK EPR Design Centre at Aztec West in Bristol will bring together nuclear designers and engineers from EDF and partners to support the construction and commissioning of UK EPR nuclear reactors at both plants.
Specifically, the team will use their experience of the reactor design and the UK regulatory environment to support the projects.
EDF expects around 700 people from different companies from both the UK and abroad will be employed there by 2021. The company added that the centre will bring an additional 300 jobs to Britain.
For Sizewell C much of the design of Hinkley Point C will be replicated, which EDF claims will reduce risk to cost and schedule.
Tilly Spencer, director of Edvance UK, is leading the UK EPR Design Centre. She said: “We are bringing together a diverse group of people with the right skills and experience of the UK context and global nuclear industry which will help us as we move into the next phases of construction at Hinkley Point C and look ahead to replicate not only the design, but also the learnings, at Sizewell.”