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UK civil nuclear project Sizewell C powers ahead with new fuel contracts and turbine deal
22/10/2025
News
Sizewell C has signed multi-year fuel contracts with Urenco and Framatome for the provision of enriched uranium services and nuclear fuel fabrication. It has also awarded Arabelle Solutions, part of EDF Group, a contract to supply two of the world’s most powerful steam turbines.
The contract with Urenco for enriched uranium services will serve the first six years of the 3.2 GW-capacity Sizewell C power station’s operation. It is expected to help support around 1,000 existing highly skilled jobs at Urenco’s enrichment site at Capenhurst, near Chester, in the UK, one of four that the company operates globally. Urenco, whose shareholders include the UK government, has committed to delivering net zero carbon enrichment services.
Sizewell C has also signed a long-term fuel fabrication agreement with Framatome for the nuclear plant’s first cores and a number of subsequent reloads. The fuel will first be fabricated using the enriched uranium at Framatome’s factory in Romans, France, until the company’s new UK facility is available. A specific location and commissioning date have yet to be revealed for the UK site. However, it is expected to manufacture nuclear fuel for large pressurised water reactors (PWR) and light water small modular reactors (SMR), supplying both the future nuclear fleet in the UK and supporting the wider deployment of SMRs in Europe. The new facility is also expected to create new jobs and reduce reliance on fuel imports, strengthening the security of fuel supply in the UK.
Julia Pyke and Nigel Cann, Joint Managing Directors of Sizewell C, comment: ‘These two contracts represent a major moment for Sizewell C and for energy security in the UK – this is about delivering the fuel supply for a project that will power 7% of the UK’s energy needs. This is also another big moment for nuclear jobs in the UK… We’ve already pledged to deliver 70% of the project’s construction value to UK businesses, and investing in fuel fabrication here in the UK will help us increase that to around 90% across the lifetime of the project.’
Once operational, Sizewell C will supply electricity to the equivalent of six million homes for at least 60 years. At its peak, the project will directly support 10,000 jobs with tens of thousands more in the supply chain, and it will create 1,500 apprenticeships.
Framatome has previously announced multi-billion pound contracts with Sizewell C, including the delivery of the two nuclear heat production systems for the project.
Earlier this month, Sizewell C announced that it had awarded Arabelle Solutions a contract to supply two of the world’s most powerful steam turbines (capacity 1,770 MWe). Each steam turbine will include a 75-inch last stage blade – reportedly the longest such blades ever made – which are designed to extract the remaining energy from the expanding steam in the low-pressure section of the turbine in order to maximise the overall power output. Each turbine hall will also feature a generator that will supply electricity for three million homes, along with supporting equipment such as heat exchangers, pumps and auxiliary components. Both shaft lines, which house a turbine and generator, will span approximately 70 metres, roughly the size of a Boeing 747 passenger jet.
Arabelle Solutions, an EDF company, is currently installing the first of two such turbine islands at Hinkley Point C in Somerset – Sizewell C’s sister project and the first nuclear power plant to be built in the UK in 30 years.
Sizewell C secured a final investment decision in July, with the UK government confirming it would take an initial 44.9% stake, becoming the single largest equity shareholder. Other shareholders include La Caisse (20%), Centrica (15%), EDF (12.5%) and Amber Infrastructure (7.6%).