A miracle energy source with no environmental impact has yet to be found. In the meantime, nuclear energy can play an important role in managing climate change.
The attraction of nuclear energy is its ability to produce large amounts of high-quality electrical energy in a particularly stable and regular manner, all while emitting little to no greenhouse gases.
The first hurdle is the vital initial investment and the technical constraints of the range of standards to be met.
The standards are in place to ensure that in the unlikely event of an accident, the environment and population are protected (mainly by confinement) and that there are enough containment measures in place to avoid a disastrous series of consequences (lessons learned following Fukushima).
Beyond the type of facility being designed and installed, and mostly outside the scope of standards and even the “project” role, the other difficulty lies in treating and managing nuclear waste over a time period far longer than usual for humanity.
At ABMI, we take a pragmatic approach, considering that a miracle energy source with no environmental impact has yet to be found.
In the meantime, nuclear energy can play an important role in managing climate change. We should also find the best solution for managing existing waste. Current research programmes may lead to intrinsically safe nuclear electricity (where it is intrinsically impossible for the nuclear core to become critical) and technology to eliminate waste rather than store it. New technology also allows us to imagine small and modular reactors (SMRs) to reduce projects’ complexity and initial investments.
Understanding standards and challenges, safety on the ground, agility in forming teams and offering solutions, and listening both to project and human needs are all our watchwords for these projects.
In that year we created our Local Research Bureau in Tours for CNEPE while carrying out study packages and as a member of Sofinel (now Edvance) through its joint ventures on OL3, FA3, Taishan and Hinkley Point C. The general installation teams began work on EPR2 in 2018.
Today, ABMI has diversified its nuclear activities to include Infrastructure, General installation, designing specialized machinery, and overseeing the production and delivery of specific tools.
ABMI is following its clients’ lead in developing its nuclear engineering service in Lyon in order to support Edvance projects on EPR2 in Bristol (UK) for the HPC project.
Our engineering work covers: static mechanical equipment (exchangers etc.), rotating machines, handling / hoisting, HVAC, Nuclear ventilation, pipes, taps, pressurized nuclear equipment, electrical engineering, control/command, instrumentation, civil engineering, geotechnical studies, VRD and also general installation.
Through its subcontracting network, ABMI provides manufacturing, in-situ soil studies, underground detection (detecting pipelines using magnetic loops etc.) to conduct “ready to use” package studies. Although the studies are mainly carried out in the office, many of the teams are trained and experienced in working on site. The company is CEFRI-E, MASE and ISO 9001 certified.