NIRO was excited to visit Sheffield Forgemasters, as they have pioneered the development and industrialisation of Electron Beam Welding. In 2022 the company weld-joined two 200 mm thick, three-meter diameter vessel sections in UK-SMR nuclear grade steel. The weld, equivalent to approximately 10m of length, was completed in a single pass and in just 140 minutes. A weld of this requirement would traditionally take months, including numerous stages of NDT and heat-treatment.
