Columbia Regional Business Report
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Staff Report
Westinghouse Electric Co. today said it has completed fabrication of all 157 fuel assemblies and related components needed to operate the first-ever AP1000 nuclear power plant, Sanmen Unit 1, in Zhejiang province, China.
The company said completion of fabrication is a major milestone for Westinghouse and its fuel fabrication facility in Columbia, where the fuel assemblies were completed and delivered to the Sanmen Nuclear Power Co., also in Columbia, for later shipment to China.
Sanmen Unit 1 is scheduled to begin generating electricity in 2013.
“This operational milestone, which closely follows final approval of the AP1000 design by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the granting of the Combined Construction and Operating License for the Vogtle site in Georgia, again shows that the global nuclear new build effort continues to gain momentum,” said Ric Peréz, president of operations for Westinghouse.
“It also again illustrates that the Westinghouse business model is mutually beneficial, creating or sustaining jobs in locations in which we already have a presence while building infrastructure in the countries and regions where we are providing new plants,” Peréz added.
Columbia plant manager David Precht said: “Up until now, the Columbia plant has been producing fuel primarily for the first generation of plants around the world. But now we are introducing a new fleet of plants — AP1000 or ‘Advanced Passive’ plants — that will need fuel until late in the century. We look forward to also providing fuel for the AP1000 plants that will be built in the United States.”
The AP1000 reactor, which received amended design certification from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in December 2011, was developed to further improve safety and reduce construction and operating costs, Westinghouse said. Westinghouse said it is pursuing production of AP1000 fuel across its global manufacturing facilities.
Two AP1000 reactors are to be built by South Carolina Electric and Gas Co. at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station at Jenkinsville.
Sanmen 1 is the flagship AP1000 plant; seven more are already under construction: one more at Sanmen; two at Haiyang site in Shandong province, China; two at Southern Nuclear’s Vogtle site in Georgia; and two at the V.C. Summer site in South Carolina.
Westinghouse Electric Co., a group company of Toshiba Corp., is a leading supplier of nuclear plant products and technologies to utilities worldwide.