The KSB Group has received orders amounting to just under € 30 million to supply pumps and valves for the new Hinkley Point C nuclear power station. The power station on the Severn Estuary in South West England involves the construction of two new units equipped with EPR reactors and is due to be completed by 2025.
An RVM 80-265 multistage barrel pull-out pump of the type about to be manufactured for the new units of the British power station Hinkley Point. (© KSB Aktiengesellschaft, Frankenthal, Germany)
The German pump manufacturer will supply four vertical, multistage barrel pull-out pumps of the RVM 80-265 series, including motors and further accessories as well as a spare parts package by 2020. Crucial for winning this order was the tight cooperation between the German- based KSB AG and the Chinese joint venture SEC-KSB. These specialist pumps are being constructed for handling water for the primary cooling circuits in each reactor.
KSB’s Luxembourg-based subsidiary SISTO Armaturen S.A. will supply some 6,000 SISTO-20NA and SISTO-KRVNA diaphragm valves and vent valves by the end of 2019. Receiving the go-ahead for this contract was largely due to the good experience the operators have enjoyed with these valves in the three other EPR reactors. Furthermore, KSB S.A.S. France and the KSB Aktiengesellschaft factory in Pegnitz, Germany will also deliver numerous low-pressure and lift check valves by the end of 2021.
The overall cost for the extension of the Hinkley Point nuclear power station is estimated to amount to more than € 20 billion. The two new reactors are scheduled to go online in 2025 and have a planned service life of 60 years. The aim is for the power station to cover seven percent of the UK’s power requirements.