NEW photographs and video footage have been released showing the progress being made in building the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station.

The construction teams are currently readying for a lift of the domed roof onto the station’s second nuclear reactor building this summer.

Construction of unit one’s buildings is almost complete, as the installation of equipment accelerates inside.

Meanwhile, the second unit, which was stopped during the pandemic, is catching up with its 245-tonne dome due to be lifted over the summer.

This will allow it to move into its fit-out phase.

Progress has been helped by a transformation in the way the power station is being built with prefabrication in civil construction now approaching 60 per cent, effectively making Hinkley C a ‘large modular reactor’.

More factories on and off site mean larger giant pieces are being lifted into place with big productivity gains, such as a recent 170-tonne staircase ‘megalift’, or using the crane Big Carl to lift in completed rooms in one piece.

Experience gained to date means unit two is faster to build than unit one.

At dome lift for unit two, the second reactor building will be further ahead with more equipment installed than at the same point on the first one.

Hinkley C chief excutive Stuart Crooks said: “Prefabrication and modular construction are transforming the way we build the power station, with big gains for our second identical unit.

“The innovation and experience we are developing at Hinkley C will benefit our twin project at Sizewell C from the start.

“We have trained a new workforce and built the nuclear supply chain.

“Now, those skilled workers and businesses can give Britain the energy security and economic growth it needs at Sizewell C, together with small modular reactors and future large nuclear plants.”