PITTSBURGH, Sept. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Westinghouse Electric Company has today signed pioneering agreements with BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and Doosan Babcock to collaborate on work associated with bringing the AP1000 nuclear power plant to the UK.
The agreements are part of the Westinghouse strategy to "buy where we build" and are key milestones in the process which may lead to between 70 and 80 percent of the work and services required to construct the AP1000 being provided by the UK supply chain, securing valuable jobs in Britain.
The three separate Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) put in place arrangements for Westinghouse to work on an individual basis with BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and Doosan Babcock. Areas of work in the three MoU's are different but cover areas such as:
-- Design, production, fabrication and integration of modules
-- Development of a supply base in the UK
-- Onsite erection and assembly of components
-- Support for commissioning
-- Nuclear component manufacturing
-- Safety and technical support
Westinghouse has a unique approach and demonstrated track record in localizing the supply chain for new nuclear build. This approach is currently being implemented in China, where work is already underway on the first two of a series of four AP1000 plants ordered there.
Aris Candris, Westinghouse President & CEO, in the UK to sign the agreements said: "We are absolutely delighted to be working with BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and Doosan Babcock. These partnerships are a vital component in our ambition to bring the AP1000 reactor to the UK as part of the government drive to have new nuclear capacity installed as soon as possible. They also represent significant steps towards realizing the major opportunity which new nuclear presents to UK businesses and the UK economy as a whole"
"Westinghouse was the first reactor designer to submit its application into the UK regulatory process and we are delighted to now be the first to put in place arrangements with major players in the UK supply chain. We expect to expand our involvement with other UK supply chain companies as this work progresses."
Another major UK manufacturer, Sheffield Forgemasters, is already playing a key role in the global Westinghouse supply chain by making coolant pump casings for the Chinese AP1000 plants.
Notes to Editors:
About Westinghouse Electric Company
Westinghouse Electric Company, a group company of Toshiba Corporation, is the world's pioneering nuclear power company and is a leading supplier of nuclear plant products and technologies to utilities throughout the world.
Westinghouse supplied the world's first PWR in 1957 in Shippingport, Pennsylvania. Today, Westinghouse technology is the basis for approximately half of the world's operating nuclear plants.
China will build four AP1000s -- two on the Sanmen site and two on the Haiyang site. Construction on the first of these plants, at Sanmen, began in February 2008.
Westinghouse has also signed two contracts to build four AP1000 nuclear power plants in the United States. The AP1000 has been identified as the new plant technology of choice for no less than a total of 10 additional nuclear plants that could be built in the United States.
The AP1000 has passed all the steps for compliance with European Utility Requirements. In addition, the AP1000 is the only Generation III+ plant to receive design certification by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
In the UK, Westinghouse runs the Springfields site in Preston, Lancashire (where around 1500 people are employed), on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. The vast majority of the UK's nuclear fuel has been made at Springfields over the past 50 years.
For more information on Westinghouse, visit:
http://www.Westinghousenuclear.com
For pictures of AP1000, visit:
http://www.westinghousenuclear.com/News_Room/image_gallery.shtm
For more information on the AP1000 visit:
http://ap1000.westinghousenuclear.com
SOURCE Westinghouse Electric Company
International News / Press Release source: PR Newswire
Copyright PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved.