Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, UK

Our environmental assessment of the site ensures compliance with Environment Agency and Office for Nuclear Regulation requirements to protect people and the environment.

Opportunity

Environmental protection and sustainability are key features in HPC’s design and construction. As the construction site environmental lead, we’re responsible for achieving environmental compliance, providing training, coordinating ecological surveys, environmental inspections and liaising with the regulators. We’re also responsible for technical advice on all environmental issues.

Solution

Our team of environmental specialists ensured compliance of management plans, including soil, materials, remediation and radiology, water and sediment, ecology, noise, air quality, and health and safety. We developed risk mitigation strategies for the site, incorporating water treatment to capture sediments and other potential contaminants arising from concrete pouring and other construction activities. We designed measures to minimise disturbance of wildlife, such as bats, badgers, reptiles, great crested newts and otters.

Waste disposal was minimised by incorporating 14,000m³ of excavated earth into the site design, significantly reducing costs as well as environmental impact. A review of the sea wall design revealed the need for an additional structure to mitigate propagation of stem waves, which could have posed an overtopping risk.

Outcome

The Environment Agency and Office for Nuclear Regulation concluded that the reactor will be properly protected, allowing construction to go ahead. The project is rated excellent using the CEEQUAL environmental assessment standard.

Hinkley Point C is the first new nuclear power station to be built in the UK in over 20 years. It will provide zero-carbon electricity for around 6M homes and support thousands of jobs.