Wire winding of Hartlepool and Heysham reactor pressure vessels

The advantages of wire winding as a means of applying circumferential prestress to structures were fully exploited by the development of a system for use on the prestressed concrete pressure vessels housing the nuclear reactors at the Hartlepool and Heysham Power Stations. The basic development was directed towards producing a system which not only met a very high standard of technical specification but also produced an efficient, quick and reliable operation under site conditions. Full scale development proving, followed by long term endurance running in association with laboratory testing, ensured that these aims were very successfully accomplished. (author)