Doosan Babcock is to provide operational support and lifetime extension services for EDF Energy's fleet of advanced gas cooled reactors (AGRs) in the UK.
Under the Lifetime Enterprise Agreement (LEA) Doosan Babcock will support work at all seven of EDF Energy's AGR power stations until the last one ceases generation.
Doosan said that the contract will call for up to 1000 skilled employees at any one time. It estimated the value of the deal at around £70 million a year.
EDF Energy has a policy to 'seek life extensions where it is safe and economical to do so,' and did not specify the possible duration of the contract. However the French utility recently announced its plans to extend the life of Dungeness B by ten years to 2028, subject to various approvals.
Cameron Gilmour, Doosan Babcock's Nuclear Service Director commented: "The LEA is the result of close collaboration and a great deal of planning from both our companies, and will give EDF Energy access to a range of specialist skills and technologies that will support its UK power generation strategy long into the future."
The UK's seven AGR nuclear power stations have a combined capacity of 7550 MW. They are: Dungeness B, Hinkley Point B, Hunterston B, Hartlepool, Heysham 1, Heysham 2 and Torness. In 2013 the UK AGRs and the single UK pressurised water reactor, Sizewell B, generated 60.5 TWh of electricity, which represented the highest output from EDF's UK fleet since 2005.
Photo: EDF Energy hopes to extend the life of Dungeness B to 2028 (Credit: EDF Energy)
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