OPENING ADDRESS

The role of prestressed reactor vessels has been, and may well continue to be, of major importance in the development of nuclear power, and especially in the U.K. has permitted the development of a type of reactor peculiarly suited to a densely populated land. The use of prestressed vessels for containment vessels is a separate issue both as regards its influence and the lower complexity of design problems, but is by no means unimportant.

The repercussions of innovation on this scale should not be overlooked for the,builders of steel pressure vessels had, in the U.K. at least, reached a point at which they would normally have been expected to show a profit on quite heavy investment and the development of a considerable competence when the major part of this work was transferred to a different industry.