Nuclear power Westinghouse AP1000 reactor concludes qualification testing
Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactor’s design differs from earlier reactor design in that it employs passive safety systems which rely only on natural forces such as gravity safely to shutdown and remain cool; Westinghouse says it has successfully completed the design, manufacture, and qualification of the lead AP1000 Reactor Coolant Pump
Westinghouse Electric Company, Curtiss-Wright Corporation, and the State Nuclear Power and Technology Corporation (SNPTC) of China the other day announced the successful completion of the design, manufacture, and qualification of the lead AP1000 Reactor Coolant Pump (RCP). Curtiss-Wright successfully performed qualification of the RCP at its Flow Control business segment’s Electro-Mechanical Division (EMD) facility in Cheswick, Pennsylvania.
Westinghouse says that the conclusion of qualification testing of the AP1000 RCP, including fifty service cycles and more than 500 total operating hours, clears the way for installation of the RCPs at Sanmen Unit 1 in China, the first AP1000 reactor to be built in the world. The shipment of the first two RCPs for Sanmen 1 is expected to occur in the second quarter of 2012.
“This marks a major milestone for Curtiss-Wright and especially our EMD employees, who have worked so tenaciously to develop and produce this first-of-a-kind technology,” said Martin R. Benante, chairman and CEO, Curtiss-Wright Corporation. “We are proud to be a critical and significant player in building the safest and most advanced nuclear reactors in the world, while meeting the energy needs of China and other countries across the globe.”
“The RCPs will now help support many years of safe and reliable operation of AP1000 plants to produce the much needed electricity and jobs to sustain and grow economies, not only in China, but here in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world,” said Ric Perez, chief operating officer of Westinghouse Electric Company. “Helping to build infrastructure and promote energy development in the countries in which we do business while also creating jobs and infrastructure in the U.S. is our standard approach to international business.”
Chairman Wang Binghua of the China SNPTC said that the successful completion of the RCP Endurance Test has demonstrated that SNPTC, Westinghouse, and Curtiss-Wright/EMD “have jointly overcome the challenges with the AP1000 RCPs, which are among the most critical components of the AP1000 design.”
Wang went on to say that, “not only will the successful completion of this important testing have a significant positive impact for the on-going AP1000 projects in China and the United States, but also for the promotion of the AP1000 to other international markets. We expect that the successful delivery of the RCPs will ensure that China’s first AP1000 unit at Sanmen will go online as projected in 2013. The SNPTC will continue to strengthen its ties with Westinghouse and Curtiss Wright EMD to further promote AP1000 technology and the growth of nuclear energy.”
Curtiss-Wright will build sixteen RCPs for the first two AP1000 plants in China at its expanded EMD facility in Cheswick, Pennsylvania. Each plant is supported by two AP1000 reactors, while each reactor holds four reactor coolant pumps. Sanmen 1 is the flagship AP1000 reactor, with seven more reactors already under construction in both China and the United States: one more at Sanmen; two at the Haiyang site in Shandong Province, China; two at Southern Nuclear’s Vogtle site in Georgia; and two at the SCANA V.C. Summer site in South Carolina.
Westinghouse says that additional AP1000 plants are anticipated over the next decade in the United States and around the world, noting that this expansion solidifies the AP1000 design as a foundation for the next generation of nuclear plants by employing passive safety systems, which rely only on natural forces to safely shutdown and remain cool
