Steel Bricks™, the UK-based modular steel construction system pioneered by Caunton Engineering, has been included in a multi-million dollar funding programme to be delivered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), aimed at making advanced nuclear construction faster and more affordable to build.
The U.S. DOE’s National Reactor Innovation Centre is to invest $5.8 million to develop innovative construction technologies to help reduce the cost of new nuclear builds by more than 10 per-cent - as well as significantly speeding up the pace of their development.
Developed by Modular Walling Systems (MWS), based in Renfrewshire, Scotland, the Steel Bricks™ system is fabricated in the UK by the leading structural steelwork manufacturer Caunton Engineering. Hailed as a second-generation steel composite structure, the unique proprietary system has been described by the U.S. DOE as fitting together like ‘high-tech LEGO pieces’ which could ‘significantly reduce the amount of construction labour required on site.’
The Steel Bricks™ system is one of three development projects that will be funded by the U.S. DOE’s Advanced Construction Technology (ACT) initiative. GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, the world-leading provider of nuclear power plant technology, will lead a team which will include Caunton Engineering to explore promising technologies from other industries that have not been tested within the context of nuclear energy.

A comprehensive press release has been issued which gives further details and may be accessed using this link.

An interesting press report in Construction Enquirer is accessed by using this link.