Final stages of securing the installations at the Gravelines nuclear power plant

At the Gravelines nuclear power plant (France), as part of efforts to enhance the safety of the combustible building, our teams have carried out a series of delicate operations over the past three years to connect a new cooling network to the existing facilities, all within a very tight deadline.

Stéphane Kopec, project manager, explains: “This connection is part of the post-Fukushima work plan, for which John Cockerill was already in charge of the mechanical part of the ”PTR Bis“ modification: an installation allowing diversification of the combustible pool cooling system and the cold source for production units 4, 5, and 6.”

In order to add this new mobile cooling system to enhance the safety of the fuel pool in the event of an incident and to be able to connect it quickly in exceptional circumstances, new fixed piping had to be installed from outside the fuel building to the pool.

The teams at John Cockerill Services Nucléaire (co-contractor of GMES Orys Nordon John Cockerill Services Nucléaire) were entrusted by EDF with carrying out the mechanical part of this work on the three production units at Gravelines. The most delicate stage was connecting these new pipes to the existing network.

Thanks to meticulous preparation, close and effective coordination between the John Cockerill and EDF teams, and prior training of the welders, the three connections were completed without incident, with a record time of 3.4 days for the work on production unit No. 5.

The John Cockerill teams are proud to contribute, alongside the major players in the nuclear industry, to improving equipment and securing nuclear facilities.