The 423-tonne steel liner ring was lifted into place on Monday 14th October.
It is the third and final ring to be installed on the building, which will be home to one of Hinkley Point C’s two nuclear reactors. The steel ring, which is 11.6-metres in height and 47-metres in diameter, forms part of the inner containment wall of the reactor building and will now be encased in two layers of concrete.
The liner ring was fabricated in a factory on site and also features supporting brackets for the polar crane beam. That internal crane will rotate 360° above the reactor and be used for refuelling.
The reactor building now only has the ‘lid’ to be placed on top, with the dome lift scheduled for next year.
The first reactor building was capped with its own dome in December 2023 and is ready for the reactor to be installed later this year.
Big Carl – officially the Sarens SGC-250 – is a ring-mounted crane designed and owned by Belgian heavylift specialist Sarens. It is nominally capable of lifting a maximum load of 5,000 tonnes. It was made specifically for the Hinkley Point C project and was initially deployed on a four-year deal worth £20m. It has now been on the site for more than five years.
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