EDF has created EDF EPR Engineering UK* to strengthen its nuclear engineering presence in the UK.

The French-owned energy giant employs more than 1,000 people at its base in Gloucester.

EDF EPR Engineering UK, with almost 600 employees, incorporates teams already present in the UK, provided by the EDF Group - EDF SA, Framatome, Edvance and EDF Energy - and its partners.

Their core task is to contribute to the delivery of engineering studies for the project to build two EPR units at the Hinkley Point C (HPC) site. The new subsidiary will provide support for technical decision-making at all project stages and during operations.

EDF EPR Engineering UK brings together the full range of design engineering skills within the UK, against the backdrop of the UK government's recent call for investment in the project to build new nuclear reactors at the Sizewell site.

EDF's aim in doing so is to capitalise more effectively on the knowledge acquired during the UK EPR construction project, while placing skills on a sustainable footing at a broader level within the group.

Xavier Ursat, EDF group senior executive vice-president, New Nuclear Projects and Engineering, said: "Through the creation of EDF EPR Engineering UK, we are boosting our support for the UK nuclear programme, and providing an excellent framework for knowledge capitalisation for all future EPR projects."

Catherine Back, CEO of EDF EPR Engineering UK, said: "With this new subsidiary, we bring engineering and execution much closer together during the construction phase, while consolidating the skills that we have already acquired. It will also enable us to make optimum use of operating experience from the Hinkley Point C project, thereby delivering benefits in terms of replication for Sizewell C."

*EDF EPR Engineering UK is a 100% subsidiary of Edvance (itself a subsidiary of EDF and Framatome).