World Nuclear Exhibition (WNE): SOCOTEC Emerges as a Key European Player in the Industry

SOCOTEC has more than 40 years’ experience and in-depth knowledge of the nuclear industry. Recent acquisitions have broadened both its expertise and its geographical coverage, making it a major player in the industry. Its expertise is based on its 600 specialised employees and 36 units, including six training centres in France and a UKAS accredited radiochemical laboratory in the UK. In all, the SOCOTEC Group generates revenue of €60 million in the nuclear industry. 

Wide Range of Services to Support Operators Throughout the Operational Life of Their Facilities 

SOCOTEC’s wide range of services can support nuclear operators throughout the operational life of their facility, whether at the stage of feasibility studies, basic design, detailed design, construction, operation, decommissioning or radioactive waste storage. SOCOTEC personnel can provide support at every stage of a project, offering the following services in France, the UK and Germany:

• QA/QC inspection, expediting
• Technical assistance and assistance to owners and operators (AOO)
• Technical inspection
• Regulatory inspections and non-destructive testing
• Advice on regulatory files (installation classified for environmental protection, IOTA (installations, infrastructure, works and activities), etc.)
• Hazard studies and risk analysis
• Calculations and digital simulations
• Training in nuclear risk and radiation protection
• Radioactivity measurements and analysis
• Measurement of occupational exposure limit (OEL) values, asbestos, aeration and pollutants

Highly Specific Expertise and Flagship Projects that Consolidate SOCOTEC's Position as a Key Player 

The SOCOTEC Group’s range of services is based on state-of-the-art expertise that serves the different types of player in the nuclear sector:

Training to reinforce workers’ safety, using facilities that closely simulate real working conditions

Staff at SOCOTEC Formation Nucléaire, our specialist nuclear training subsidiary, can call on a network of six training sites located close to nuclear power plants. They deliver 140,000 hours of training a year to meet all our partners’ needs in training and support: core nuclear knowledge courses, safety training, industrial maintenance courses, assistance, consultancy, audits, and dosimetry management.

Non-destructive testing to ensure consistent performance from your facilities 

During the operating phase, SOCOTEC carries out non-destructive testing on facilities, including surface and volumetric inspections and air- and water-tightness testing, especially on reactor building equipment. The aim of the tests is to ensure your facilities perform consistently, to assess flaws and any changes to them, and to monitor the manufacturing quality of assemblies and materials. Over 10,000 X-ray tests or gamma ray inspections of equipment are carried out annually by SOCOTEC’s NDI & Inspection line at 10 sites covering the whole of France and including six bunkers for X-ray testing and gamma ray inspections.

Analysis and measurement expertise and a specialist nuclear laboratory to prevent exposure risk 

In the UK, SOCOTEC provides services in measuring and analysing radioactivity (natural or relating to the nuclear industry). These services rapidly identify and precisely quantify the level of radioactivity of materials, whether to prevent exposure risk during operations or for decommissioning studies. Analyses are conducted at its specialist laboratory in Didcot, Oxfordshire, which is the UK’s only private-sector laboratory in the nuclear field. 

Calculations and simulations to prevent risk and optimise technical solutions 

Thanks to its advanced expertise in calculations and simulations, SOCOTEC can provide high-value-added information that aids decision-making. Its specialists’ areas of expertise include nuclear safety and security, research and development, project validation, calculation note checks, and contributions to optimising technical solutions. 

SOCOTEC works at all of France’s operational nuclear power plants and also intervenes on major projects:

• technical assistance at the Flamanville EPR since the beginning of construction
• design project checks, construction monitoring and commissioning assistance for the international ITER project (experimental reactor running on fusion power)
• technical inspection, assistance and calculations for Cigéo, the project to use a geological site to store long-lived high-level nuclear waste at a depth of 500 metres that is being led by Andra, France’s national agency for radioactive waste management
• analysis and measurements for the Hinkley Point project in the UK, AOO for the construction of nuclear power plant projects in China, commissioning of the Olkiluoto EPR in Finland, AOO for construction and inspection for decommissioning projects and for numerous waste storage centres in Germany.

SOCOTEC has all the forms of external recognition required to work in the nuclear sector: Cofrac accreditation, ISO and CEFRI safety certifications, ISO 9001/2008, ISO 17020, EDF/UTO, MASE/UIC, CEFRI E accreditations, member of the ASAP, French Ministry of Defence authorisation to deal with “sensitive contracts”, unreserved level 1 Alstom Qualification and more. SOCOTEC employs the services of over 190 specialists in non-destructive testing, all with COFREND certification (levels 1, 2 and 3).

Find us at: SOCOTEC stand number N7 D163 – World Nuclear Exhibition from 26 to 28 June 2018 – Paris Nord Villepinte

Photo credit: ©EDF-MORIN ALEXIS