Westinghouse reactor reaches Chinese nuclear site

Westinghouse Electric Company, its consortium team member The Shaw Group Inc., China's State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC) and Sanmen Nuclear Power Company Ltd., have announced that the first AP1000 nuclear reactor vessel successfully arrived at the Sanmen nuclear power plant in China's Zhejiang province.

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction manufactured the reactor vessel, which weighs approximately 340 tons and measures 4.5 meters in diameter by 12.2 meters in length.  The reactor vessel successfully arrived at Sanmen after a long journey from Doosan's in-house port at its Changwon Plant in the Republic of Korea. The vessel, when installed in the Sanmen Unit 1 AP1000 plant, will undergo installation and operational testing before starting commercial operation in late 2013.

Senior Vice President, Westinghouse Nuclear Power Plants, Deva Chari said that the successful shipment of the reactor vessel shows that Westinghouse, its partners and Chinese customers, are committed to bringing China's first four AP1000 units online in a timely and safe manner.

"All key project milestones of the Sanmen project were met in 2010, and the project continues to work towards successfully completing all 2011 key project milestones this year," he said.

Westinghouse and The Shaw Group Inc., signed landmark contracts with Chinese customers to provide four AP1000 pressurized water reactors in China, two in Sanmen in Zhejiang, and another pair in Haiyang in Shandong province.

The first AP1000 unit at Sanmen will become operational in late 2013.  The remaining three units are expected to come online in 2014 and 2015.