A floating crane was used to retrieve the TBM from the seabed. Credit: Hinkley Point C media team

Tunnelling has been completed for a fish return system at the UK’s Hinkley Point C nuclear power station.

Excavation of the 620m-long, 1.8m-diameter tunnel, which runs under the Bristol Channel, was completed in five months.

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TBM Sarah Guppy has been retrieved from the seabed by a floating crane and will be cleaned before being put to use on another site.

The fish return system, which will transfer fish back to the sea if they do enter the cooling system, is one of three fish protection measures. The power station will also have an acoustic fish deterrent and four low-speed water intakes, designed so that fish can swim as close as 2m in the 20km wide channel.

Hinkley Point C is scheduled to start generating power in 2030 and to be fully operational in 2031.