Aberdeen-based Wood has secured a new contract to act as sole supplier of inspection qualification services on the £19.6 billion Hinkley Point C project.

The deal, which is worth nearly £12 million, will see the energy service firm's Inspection Validation Centre (IVC) qualify ultrasonic inspections on high integrity welds in primary circuit components for the two 1.6GW reactors on the nuclear power plant project.

The project will create up to 35 new jobs at the IVC in Warrington, UK.

Wood's teams will assess the inspection procedures and their supporting technical justifications and will carry out practical trials to demonstrate that the procedures can be applied and meet their objectives. Using flaw implantation techniques, faults will be introduced into welded test pieces to test and ultimately assure that inspectors can identify them.

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Robin Watson, Wood Chief Executive, said: "Our role is to independently check the inspection methods – and assess and qualify the inspectors who will apply them – to ensure that they can detect any defects that could compromise the structural integrity of critical reactor components during the plant's lifetime.

"Our certificated, independent accredited service forms part of the safety case for Hinkley Point C and enables our customer to satisfy the UK nuclear regulator's requirements on inspection qualification. This contract advances our strategy to secure key positions in independent validation and equipment qualification services for UK new build programmes."

(LM/JP)