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Partial lift modernisation at Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station
Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station in County Durham was first connected to the grid in 1983 and since then, it has been producing enough power to meet the demands of every home in the Northeast of England. The station is operated by EDF Energy and employs over 500 people, along with over 200 full-time contract partners.
The power station’s building is essentially a large hall with multiple levels that houses the reactors and the control stations. To provide easy movement to the upper levels, the station has a traditional traction lift which is used for both passenger and goods movement. The Ground Floor entrance of the lift is in an important service corridor and had become unreliable, with frequent breakdowns
Although the Jackson Newcastle Team were known to the station’s management, we had not previously undertaken any lift maintenance at the site. We responded to a request for assistance from the Station relating to the ongoing problems.
To advise on the problems and estimate for any repairs, our Newcastle-based Sales Engineer visited the site to undertake a lift status survey and discuss the problems with the station’s facility management team, who had decided a partial modernisation was likely to be the best option.
After the survey was undertaken, we submitted a budget estimate in a tender format for the replacement of the existing traction machine, lift controller and the ancillary items required for the modernisation work. Shortly after our submission, we were delighted to hear that our Newcastle Team had been chosen for this important work.
Due to the high levels of security clearance required for all people working in a nuclear station, our engineers and supervisors all had to have Counter Terrorist Check (CTC) clearance and visitor permits to allow entry to the site. Fortunately for Jackson, as we also work in other high-level security locations that need the same CTC clearance, our administrators are completely familiar with the process.
As the lift entrance was in an essential service corridor, our local supervisor produced and submitted a detailed method and risk assessment detailing the removal of the existing equipment and its temporary storage, along with the storage location of the new equipment and its subsequent movement for installation. For evacuation safety, our engineers had to ensure movement along the corridor was not restricted throughout the entirety of the project.
On-site, our local engineers replaced the old, failing traction machine and lift controller with a new machine, bed plate, lifting ropes, overspeed governor and lift controller.
With the modernisation completed, we fully tested the lift, placed it back in full service and removed all the redundant lift equipment from the site for recycling, where possible.