Dramatic moment silo collapses at unfinished nuclear power plant Hinkley Point C throwing huge dust cloud into the air
- 115-ft tower suffered ‘structural damage’ at Hinkley Point C incident today
- EDF said there were no injuries and will investigating incident near Bridgwater
- Construction at Hinkley Point C is unfinished and is due to be completed in 2025
A 115-ft tower at the unfinished Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant suffered ‘structural damage’ today, throwing a huge dust cloud into the air.
EDF, which is building the plant, has denied eyewitness claims of an explosion, and confirmed that no one was injured at the 7.30am incident.
The energy supplier is now investigating the events of this morning which occurred at the plant, due to be completely constructed in 2025, near Bridgwater.
A spokesman for EDF said: ‘At around 7.30am a silo in the concrete batching plant at Hinkley Point C suffered structural damage, releasing a dust cloud around the area.
The 115-ft tower, which weighs 5,000 tonnes, suffered ‘structural damage’ at 7.30am when onlookers said they heard what sounded like an explosion
‘Nobody has been injured and the emergency services were not required. An investigation is underway to understand the cause of the event.’
The silo contains ground-granulated blast-furnace slag which plays a ‘pivotal role’ in the plant’s construction by reusing the material within its concrete.
Ground-granulated blast-furnace slag is obtained by quenching molten iron slag from a blast furnace in water or steam to produce a glass, granular product.
This product is then dried and ground into a fine powder, which explains why there was a large dust cold when the silo collapsed.
State-owned French supplier EDF is building two new nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point C to provide low-carbon electricity for six million British homes.
EDF has denied there was an explosion, and said no one was injured. The energy supplier is now investigating the incident near Bridgwater, Somerset
Construction of the nuclear power plant was officially approved in 2016, with EDF wanting to build another station at Sizewell in Suffolk.
Financing for Hinkley Point C, which is expected to cost more than £20billion, is being split between EDF and state-owned Chinese General Nuclear (CGN).
CGN, which was invited to assist the construction of Hinkley Point C by David Cameron, was blacklisted by the US government for espionage last August.
In May, a senior US official told the Mail on Sunday that CGN’s involvement in UK power generation would jeopardise Britain’s political independent for many decades.
State-owned French supplier EDF is building two new nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point C to provide low-carbon electricity for six million British homes
Dr Christopher Ford, the US State Department’s assistant secretary for non-proliferation and international security, warned that CGN is closely linked to the People’s Liberation Army, the Chinese Communist Party’s military.
One of the company’s top engineers has previously been convicted and jailed in the US for running a spy network at the behest of Beijing.
In an appeal to the Government, which was criticised by the US for initially allowing Chinese telecoms company Huawei to help build up Britain’s 5G network, Dr Ford said: ‘We are trying to discourage our friends and partners from engaging with a Chinese nuclear company that is known for such acts.’
Work on Hinkley Point C has continued throughout the coronavirus crisis, as workers previously warned about the perceived lack of social distancing measures.