MANCHESTER, England, December 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
NuGen has signed a major contract with Fugro, worth approximately £20m, to carry out a thorough programme of site characterisation work - starting in December.
The site characterisation work will inform the design and layout of Moorside, and will support licensing, planning applications and other consents required to build the new nuclear power station in West Cumbria - which will be capable of generating up to 3.6GW of electricity.
The onshore investigation is the first stage of the project and will go on until the summer of 2016, with the majority of the offshore element scheduled to begin in spring 2016.
The work will involve:
- Onshore geotechnical site investigations, consisting of over 300 boreholes and laboratory analyses
- Onshore 2D seismic surveys, topographical (terrain) surveys and groundwater monitoring
- Marine geotechnical drilling of 30 boreholes, sampling and testing, including wireline geophysics
- Marine bathymetric surveys (studies of the ocean floor)
Esa Heiskanen, NuGen's Chief Project Officer and Deputy CEO, said: "The start of the site characterisation work marks an important stage for NuGen and the Moorside Project.
"The data we receive as a result of the work will be vital in developing the project which - when completed - will be capable of generating seven per-cent of the UK's electricity."
The contract is expected to rely on the local supply chain to deliver specific elements of the work, such as supplying plant and consumables.
Ian Judge, Fugro's Project Director, commented: "We are delighted to be expanding our relationship with NuGen with the award of this site characterisation contract. It is one of the largest UK investigation contracts to be awarded as a single package and it recognises Fugro's standing as an independent service provider as well as our unique ability to deliver integrated data for major developments such as the Moorside Project."
Russell Rome, NuGen's Head of Contracts and Purchasing, said: "This is the largest contract we have placed since NuGen signed the land deal with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and signifies that the next stage of the Moorside Project is well underway."
Notes to editors:
NuGen is a UK nuclear company owned by Toshiba and ENGIE (formerly GDF SUEZ).
When fully operational, the planned Moorside reactors will have a combined capacity of up to 3.6 GW, enough to power up to six million homes. The first of the three Westinghouse AP1000® reactors is targeted to come online in 2024. NuGen's Moorside project will help support the UK Government's low carbon and energy security objectives at a time when existing power plants are retiring and low-carbon generation is required to meet national and international commitments.
Construction of the new reactors will create thousands of skilled jobs over the next decade, and the project is expected to significantly boost the local, regional and national economies, with a large portion of the development and construction programmes accessible to the UK supply chain.
AP1000 is a trademark of Westinghouse Electric Company LLC. All rights reserved.
For further information please contact:
John McNamara Tel: +44(0)7850-774377
Email: john.mcnamara@nugeneration.com
Dan Gould Tel: +44(0)7525-264877
Email: dan.gould@nugeneration.com
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