Nuclear power
Working in tandem with an increasing renewables capacity, nuclear technology generates constant, reliable baseload energy for many countries, and plays a vital role in our move towards a zero-carbon society. To meet demand as we decarbonise, we are likely to need to double the current nuclear power generation capacity. Our specialist expertise helps designers to address the many water-related challenges faced by the latest generation of nuclear power plants.
Global support for nuclear power developments
From early stage feasibility studies and site selection through to construction, commissioning and, ultimately, decommissioning, we’ve have a 50 years track record in the nuclear sector. We’ve worked at every nuclear power station in the UK, and supported the UK’s portfolio of nuclear new build projects. Globally we’ve supported nuclear projects in France, the Middle East and India.
Our specialist expertise helps designers to solve the many water-related challenges faced by the latest generation of nuclear plants.
Specialist services for the nuclear industry
- Cooling water system supply and discharge
- Marine logistics
- Marine investigations and site assessment
- Sediment movement and morphology
- Flood risk management and coastal protection
- Extreme design conditions
- Marine environmental impact assessment
Hydraulic design of cooling water systems
The design of any seawater intake and effluent discharge system needs to reflect the unique marine environment it will operate in, as well as the demands of the power generation process. We help our clients to optimise the hydraulic design of their cooling water systems.
- Cooling water system design numerical (CFD) modelling and physical model testing
- Hydraulic design and testing of intake and outfall heads
- Hydraulic design and testing of pumping stations
- Thermal plume dispersion modelling and recirculation studies.
Flood and coastal protection
We help our clients to meet the nuclear industry’s exceptionally high standards of safety and risk management. We address long term security and resilience, designing flood and coastal protection strategies that consider extreme and extremely unlikely conditions, as well as long term climate change and sea level rise.
- Establish plant platform level
- Coastal and fluvial flood risk management strategies
- Metocean modelling to define design waves, frequent and extreme water levels (e.g.cyclones), and tsunami risk
- Coastal and fluvial flood defence design and physical model testing
- Drainage and storm discharge outfall design
- Beach monitoring and management plans
Marine logistics
Access by sea may be needed during the life of a nuclear facility, during construction, operational and decommissioning. We have specialist expertise in the design and construction of harbours, jetties and offloading facilities.
- Breakwater design and testing
- Materials offloading (MOLF) and beach landing facility design
- Marine logistics planning
- Navigation assessment and simulation
- Dredging and disposal
Marine environmental protection
Our environmental specialist can support consents for marine Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) and Development Consent Orders (DCO). We are independent; with a reputation for technical excellence our evidence-based advice is highly respected by stakeholders and regulators alike. Our robust approach helps to reduce the likelihood of legal challenges and can de-risk the consenting process.
- Marine data collection - design and supervise marine surveys
- Thermal and total residual oxidants (TRO) dispersion modelling
- Larval and fish entrainment modelling
- Sediment transport and coastal process modelling
- Underwater noise modelling
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