Insider Media Limited

The joint construction venture on the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station is set to create up to 350 jobs.

Joint venture partners BAM and Kier said they had signed contracts with EDF Energy to carry out more than £100m-worth of site preparation works at the Somerset location.

The work includes excavation, earthworks, terracing, the installation of construction site infrastructure and formation of roads and networks to allow main construction to start.

An estimated 350 jobs are to be created through the project win, while up to 25,000 staff will work on site through the main construction works over the course of the project.

Kier Group chief executive Paul Sheffield said: "Both Kier and BAM have an excellent track record in the nuclear industry and enjoy a long-standing relationship built over many years of working together in joint venture.

"The Kier BAM team is looking forward to supporting EDF in its plans to deliver the first new nuclear power station in the UK for over two decades."

It was announced on Friday (17 February) that Hinkley Point would be the first of eight new nuclear power hubs to be created under an agreement signed by the British and French governments.

The first new-wave nuclear reactor at Hinkley Point will also produce a £15m training centre in Bridgwater.

It is set to generate about six per cent of the UK's electricity - all of which will be low carbon - enough to serve about five million homes.