Firm invests in new radiography centre to support nuclear sector
SHEFFIELD-BASED William Cook Cast Products has opened a stateof-the-art radiography centre to support the civil and naval nuclear sectors.
The move comes as part of a £5m investment programme through which the firm hopes to consolidate its position as a supplier of safety-critical, high-integrity steel components to the civil and naval nuclear industries.
The South Yorkshire firm designs, manufactures and overhauls parts and systems for applications where safety, reliability and traceability are critical.
Group managing director Chris Seymour said: “The UK is planning the biggest expansion of nuclear power for 70 years to improve energy security and is investing billions of pounds in its nuclear-powered submarine fleet. Our new facility is essential to ensure the integrity of high-specification steel components in the high temperature and high pressure of nuclear environments.
“We continue to invest millions of pounds in advanced machinery, metallurgical excellence and technical sophistication to support the civil and naval nuclear sectors.”
The new programme has created 15 jobs, including a number of new technical roles at graduate level to strengthen the company’s dedicated nuclear project team.
The new £2m centre is one of the very few facilities of its kind in the UK and contains 9MeV (mega-electron volt) and 3MeV linear accelerators to generate x-rays hundreds of times as powerful as hospital machines.
The non-destructive testing capabilities allow the company to inspect any of its steel castings, weighing from a few grammes to 12 tonnes, to confirm they are free from internal flaws as part of the quality assurance process.
The two-cell facility is encased within a purpose-built blockhouse constructed with 4,000 tonnes of concrete and up to 100 tonnes of steel reinforcement.
The £5m heavy foundry investment programme includes an extended metallurgical laboratory, which is working towards the internationally recognised ISO 17025 standard, a new argon oxygen decarburisation unit for the secondary refinement of stainless steels and a new robotic manipulator to transfer red-hot castings into the heat treatment facility.
New products include radioactive waste containers and components for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant.