Nuclear giant waits for green light

Westinghouse Electric plans to advance delayed third-generation reactor projects

Westinghouse Electric Co said it is looking forward to carrying the delayed third-generation reactor projects in China forward this year－the world's first Westinghouse AP1000 in Sanmen, Zhejiang province and Haiyang, Shandong province.

Bill Poirier, vice president of Westinghouse's China projects, said Sanmen unit one is well prepared for fuel loading and the company is waiting for the final approval from the Chinese government.

"Safety operation is our priority, and we have conducted 55 tests at Sanmen unit one and the same 55 tests again at Haiyang unit one to verify we have met or exceeded all the safety criteria and requirements at both units," he said.

Poirier said the company is confident that AP1000, a key nuclear technology, will be more widely adopted in the country, and Westinghouse will have its local team to promote the technology in China.

According to Gavin Liu, Asia president of Westinghouse, AP1000 is the firm's flagship product in the new plant market, accumulated from over 50 years of history, experience and knowledge.

The US-based nuclear energy company said it is looking forward to more cooperation in the nuclear sector with Chinese partners as power demand in the country is spurred by economic growth and concerns over environmental protection increase.

"Westinghouse is willing to leverage our experience in design, construction and operation with our Chinese partners while we are also willing to explore the international market with Chinese partners," said Raj Bhan, vice-president and China managing director at Westinghouse.

"We look forward to enhancing our cooperation with Chinese partners in the future, including in the design, construction and operation of AP1000," he said.

According to Poirier, the company has been working together with Chinese partners including key elements of the technology transfer.

Some 70 percent of the equipment in the first four units was completed by Chinese manufacturers, he said.

"It's a good example of cooperation between Westinghouse and Chinese customers to localize and achieve alliance. We hope the cooperation model can be applied to a third country to jointly explore the international market."

Liu said he hoped China-US trade disputes could be successfully resolved over discussion, as US and China are the top two economic superpowers and both should take each other's trade cooperation very seriously.

Construction of six to eight nuclear reactors will commence in 2018, raising China's total nuclear generating capacity by six gigawatts, the National Energy Administration said earlier this month.

China will also finish two delayed third-generation reactor projects in 2018, including the Sanmen nuclear power plant in Zhejiang and the first unit of the Taishan European Pressurized Reactor project designed by Areva in Guangdong province.