Saving tonnes of carbon in nuclear welding

Welding the thick-walled steel sections of a reactor pressure vessel is an extremely time-consuming task, with each join taking around ten days to complete and releasing tonnes of carbon. As part of a four-year collaboration with the US Electric Power Research Institute, the Nuclear AMRC has shown that a large electron beam welding chamber can complete these critical welds in just two hours. Not only does this technique drastically cut the time taken for each weld, it also slashes the process cost by over 90% and saves over two tonnes of carbon emissions every time.

Funded by the US Department of Energy, the breakthrough forms part of a broader project with industrial partners on both sides of the Atlantic to reduce the time and cost of making pressure vessels for small modular reactors (SMRs) by around 75%. It is developments like these that help to reduce the production and construction time for SMRs by years, making the transition to net zero faster and more affordable.

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