UK’s Hinkley Point C hits peak construction with 26,000 workers involved

That’s according to energy company EDF Energy, which is building two nuclear reactors at the site in Somerset.

The total number of people working directly on the project is 18,000, according to EDF, with around 12,000 on the site itself. Another 3,000 are expected to start working on the site over the next 12 months as the fit-out of the plant accelerates.

Another 8,000 people are supporting the project as part of the supply chain, including factories in Bristol, Somerset, and Wales.

Main contractor BYLOR (a joint venture between Bouygues and Laing O’Rourke) is building the plant for EDF.

EDF’s latest Socio-Economic Report found that 14,000 people have been trained in Hinkley Point C’s Centres of Excellence, while 35% of the workforce are from Britain’s most deprived areas, and 1,500 apprentices have been trained so far, with 70% from the South West.

EDF said the experience and skills gained by workers would assist with the construction of the Sizewell C nuclear plant, as well as with future small modular reactors (SMRs).