New engineering design centre strengthens Britain’s nuclear expertise
- UK EPR Design Centre will bring an extra 300 jobs to Bristol by 2021
- Innovative approach brings expertise closer to Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C
- British partners join EDF’s nuclear engineers in new UK -based collaboration
A new engineering design centre in Bristol has opened to support the next phase of construction at the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station. The UK EPR Design Centre at Aztec West brings nuclear designers and engineers together from EDF and British engineering partners and suppliers.
The team will be able to quickly resolve issues to support the construction and commissioning programme, using their experience of the EPR nuclear reactor design and UK regulatory environment. This approach draws on experience from other EPR construction projects and is another of the innovations helping to drive efficiency and productivity at Hinkley Point C.
Led by EDF, around 700 people from different companies from the UK and abroad will be employed there by 2021. It will bring an additional 300 jobs to Britain to support the design, construction and commissioning of UK EPR nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point C in Somerset and Sizewell C in Suffolk. It will build the long-term skills needed to support operation of the power stations.
The UK EPR Design Centre will play a vital part in the delivery of Britain’s ambition to fight climate change and reach Net Zero emissions. It will bring together a number of supply and engineering firms including EDF, Framatome UK, Atkins, Jacobs, Assystem, Anotech and Vulcain. Blackburn-based nuclear engineering firm Assystem recently announced the creation of 100 jobs in the UK to support construction at Hinkley Point C.
For Sizewell C much of the design of Hinkley Point C will be replicated, reducing risk to cost and schedule. The UK EPR Design Centre team will use its experience of the Hinkley Point C design to ensure success of the replication strategy for Sizewell C.
Tilly Spencer, Director of Edvance UK, is leading the UK EPR Design Centre. She said: "The UK EPR Design Centre creates a collaborative environment with key strategic partners to grow the UK's design engineering long term capability and skills. We are bringing together a diverse group of people with the right skills and experience of the UK context and global nuclear industry which will help us as we move into the next phases of construction at Hinkley Point C and look ahead to replicate not only the design, but also the learnings, at Sizewell."
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About EDF
EDF is driving the transition towards An Electric Britain – a secure, affordable, low-carbon future for everyone. As Britain’s biggest generator of zero carbon electricity, we are investing more than £100 million weekly in Britain’s electricity infrastructure. We supply millions of customers with electricity and help homes and businesses switch to electricity for heating, transport and industrial processes.
We operate five nuclear power stations and more than 35 onshore wind farms and three offshore wind farms. Since 2009, EDF has invested almost £9 billion in the nuclear fleet to improve reliability and extend station lifetimes. The five generating stations currently supply about 12% of the UK’s electricity demand.
EDF is building the UK's nuclear renaissance with the construction of a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point C. We are a minority investor (12.5%) in and major supplier to a replica plant at Sizewell C in Suffolk. Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C will provide low carbon electricity to meet 14% of UK demand and power around 12 million homes. EDF Group companies Framatome and Arabelle Solutions have a presence in the UK and manufacture critical equipment such as reactor pressure vessels and turbines.
EDF is enabling its 5 million customers, both in business and at home, to choose electric solutions that save cash and carbon, whether it is buying an electric car, generating and storing electricity, selling energy back to the grid or installing solar panels or a heat pump. In 2025, EDF’s Customers business was ranked as one of the Sunday Times’s Best Place to Work.
It is also one of the UK’s leading developers of renewable energy through EDF power solutions UK and Ireland. We have more than 2GW of renewable generation in operation and over 10GW in construction, planning and development across a range of technologies including onshore and offshore wind, solar and battery storage.
We are one of the largest suppliers to British business and a leading supplier of innovative energy solutions that are helping businesses become more energy independent. In addition, the company’s energy services business, Dalkia, is one of the UK and Ireland’s largest technical service providers.
For more information
Andrew Cockcroft
External Communications Manager (South West)
(T) 01278 484098
(M) 07875113689
andrew.cockcroft@edf-energy.com
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