On Monday, EDF awarded the largest contract to date for new reactor construction at the UK’s Hinkley Point nuclear plant.The French company said it selected a joint venture formed by European heavy construction firms Bouygues and Laing O’Rourke as the preferred bidder for $2.52 billion in civil works at the site. The deal’s scope includes work on both nuclear and non-nuclear structures for the two new Areva EPRs at the site near Bristol.“I am delighted to welcome Bouygues TP/Laing O’Rourke Joint Venture into our project. The agreements announced today show we are continuing to maintain momentum in 2012 towards our final investment decision,” EDF CEO Vincent de Rivaz said in the announcement.Both the EPR design and the project itself are currently under review by the UK government. EDF and minority owner Centrica are expected to make a decision regarding whether to move forward with the project at the end of the year.Seventeen reactors generate almost a fifth of the electricity used in the UK, according to the World Nuclear Association, and all but one will be retired in the next decade.