Absolute Benchmark
Core Catcher Project “Hinkley C”:
Number 1 completed!
Fantastic team success: Siempelkamp Giesserei has successfully delivered all 900 core catcher components for the first of two core catchers required for a new high-power nuclear power plant in south-west England (Hinkley C).
Main components for emergency cooling system
Essential for power plant safety
The order comprises 46 different highly complex components with casting weights between 24 and 1,760 kg. These extremely demanding, partly core-intensive castings with the highest quality requirements will be the main components for an emergency cooling system for the Hinkley C nuclear power plant currently under construction.
The components thus make an important contribution to the safety concept of the power plant: Should a core meltdown occur in the event of an accident, the core melt, which has a temperature of approx. 2,500°C, can be cooled down to room temperature and “caught” in a controlled manner in a so-called core catcher room. The cast components are water-cooled and thus ensure the necessary heat extraction from the hot core melt.
Challenge mastered together
Performance is absolute benchmark
The documentation and testing work involved in these castings for nuclear technology is very extensive, so that this project represents a great challenge for almost all departments of Siempelkamp Giesserei – for the production as well as for the quality department.
Reason enough for the project management to thank all employees for the successfully mastered first half of the Core Catcher project after delivery of the approx. 900 components so far. Their extremely committed and flexible cooperation made the successful implementation of the first half of the project possible in the first place. “Our gears have perfectly interlocked here as well. The required manufacturing and project competence at this level is an absolute benchmark”, says Dirk Howe, Managing Director of Siempelkamp Giesserei, very proudly.
Part 2 of the project will be continued with just the same dedication and motivation.
About Siempelkamp Giesserei
Siempelkamp is a globally active group of companies with the business units Mechanical and Plant Engineering, Casting Technology, and Engineering and Service. Nearly 3,000 employees worldwide ensure that the Siempelkamp Group is represented among the world leaders with its technologies.
Siempelkamp Giesserei GmbH in Krefeld specializes in the production of hand-molded large castings of up to 320t made of cast iron with nodular graphite and is one of the largest hand-molding foundries in the world. The comprehensive and customer-oriented service package includes the entire production process from design, calculations, pattern making, molding and casting to mechanical processing as well as packaging and transport.