The Surface Treatment Business Unit, headed by Iván Maqueda, has received a safety award from our client EDF for the excellent results in the work carried out during outage 1VD23 at the Nogent Nuclear Power Plant.

The project, carried out between 13 May and 6 June 2019, was commissioned by EDF as a solution to the erosion and corrosion of drain nozzles in two MSRs.

GDES carried out surface preparation work using abrasive sponge blasting and applied a thermal spray coating (metallisation). A significant challenge for our client and for our human and technical team, due to the limited space for manoeuvre and the requirement for manual treatment of the surface. This method prevented further corrosion and the costly unscheduled stoppage of the equipment for repair work that had become inevitable due to wall thinning.

This is the third award presented to us by EDF after the “Prevention of Occupational Risks” award for the work at the Blayais Nuclear Power Plant in 2013 and the “Best Safety Work” awarded in 2011 for the works carried out at the Bugey Nuclear Power Plant. It adds to the recent recognition from our client for the metallisation project at the Civaux Nuclear Power Plant in France.

The most highly rated aspects for this award were:

• Maintenance of the continuous ventilation systems of the reactor building.
• Well-defined works area, clean and tidy.
• Good management of risks related to working in confined spaces.
• Good risk management in the handling of suspended loads.
• Good management of fire risk.
• Correct use of PPE.
• No reported safety incident.

The main achievements on this project were the technical solution and the safety and quality of the work, adapting to the needs and difficulties of the project. This has been demonstrated by the public commendation from our client, EDF, through the safety award that it has presented to us.