WS Atkins : Atkins welcomes approval of Hinkley Point C nuclear power station - 9 October 2014

Atkins welcomes approval of Hinkley Point C nuclear power station - 9 October 2014

Commenting on the approval of Hinkley Point C nuclear power station from the European Commission, Chris Ball, managing director of Atkins' nuclear business said: "This is a firm step towards securing the UK's energy future, and paves the way for the start of construction on this important piece of the UK energy infrastructure puzzle.  We urgently need to look at how to replace the current fleet of nuclear power stations which are coming to the end of their operational lives and Hinkley C is part of the solution.  

"We have been providing technical consultancy services to EDF Energy supporting their operational and new build nuclear fleet for over 30 years and we are looking forward to continuing that strategic partnership during the life of Hinkley Point C." 

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Notes to editors: Atkins Atkins (www.atkinsglobal.com ) is one of the world's leading design, engineering and project management consultancies*, employing some 17,500 people across the UK, North America, Middle East, Asia Pacific and Europe. Our people's breadth and depth of expertise and drive to ask why has allowed us to plan, design and enable some of the world's most complex and time critical projects. *15th largest global design firm (Engineering News-Record 2014) and the third largest multidisciplinary consultancy in Europe (Svensk Teknik och Design 2013). Recent projects from across the Group: Atkins is working across urban regeneration, master planning, national energy programmes, major transport schemes, water and environment projects - applying smart design solutions on projects including: Central Planning Office - helping to co-ordinate Qatar's National 2030 Vision for world class transport infrastructure, which will bring major benefits to the economy; The London 2012 Games infrastructure transformation - as technical advisor to London's boroughs as the Olympic Park moves into its legacy configuration as a follow-on role to our work as the Games' official engineering and design provider; 's peaceful nuclear new build programme - providing technical assurance to lenders backing the United Arab Emirates' most ambitious energy infrastructure projects; North Sea and Gulf of Mexico oil and gas platforms - extending the operational life of critical oil and gas platforms to allow cost-efficient and safe recovery of fuel sources from mature fields; offshore wind alliance - provision of expert engineering and design support for the UK's biggest offshore wind alliance with Scottish and Southern Energy; - designing the Central London twin tunnels and station architecture for Europe's biggest civil engineering scheme which will see tunnels passing beneath 470 listed buildings and critical infrastructure; Railway - providing multidisciplinary design expertise on the 1,200 km Rail network which will passenger and freight transport in the ; Denmark - providing signalling expertise on the first countrywide installation of an train control and management system in Denmark; Hong Kong-- Bridge - lead consultant on this integral part of the new Hong Kong link road scheme which will significantly boost land connectivity in the region; Sixth Form College - design of the energy consumption College in the UK which aims to reduce operational energy use by more than 60% compared to previous designs; UK National Composites Centre - providing technical expertise to bring the latest lightweight carbon fibre materials to all engineering sectors, helping to develop innovative applications and reduce costs and carbon; US Environmental Protection Agency - providing technical assessment and analysis of national water-related resources and ecological systems in North America; Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) broadband - providing technical, commercial and procurement support to help deliver broadband to one of Europe's most remote regions.