Westinghouse, Shaw Group Sign Landmark Contracts to Provide Four AP1000 Nuclear Power Plants in China
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o First ever deployment of advanced U.S. nuclear technology there
o Plants are safest, most efficient and economical available worldwide
BEIJING, July 24 /-- Westinghouse Electric Company LLC and its consortium partner, The Shaw Group, Inc., (NYSE:SGR) today signed landmark, multi-billion-dollar contracts with State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation Ltd. (SNPTC), Sanmen Nuclear Power Company Ltd, Shandong Nuclear Power Company Ltd., and China National Technical Import & Export Corporation (CNTIC) to provide four AP1000 nuclear power plants in China.
Specific terms were not disclosed, but the agreements are expected to generate or sustain no less than 5,000 U.S. jobs within Westinghouse, Shaw and suppliers in at least 20 states.
Westinghouse President and CEO Steve Tritch, who signed the contract on behalf of Westinghouse, said the contracts are highly significant for both the United States and China.
"The definitive contracts signed today will result in the first-ever deployment of advanced U.S. nuclear power technology in China," he said. "The plants will greatly increase China's ability to generate significant additional baseload electricity in a clean, safe and economical manner."
"The United States will benefit through the creation of thousands of well- paying jobs in both the design and engineering and traditional manufacturing segments of our economy. I want to emphasize, therefore, just how hard the United States government has worked to support Westinghouse in the development of the AP1000, and in assuring us an opportunity to compete for this rewarding and mutually beneficial business in China."
The comprehensive agreements signed today follow by five months the signing of framework agreements that confirmed the basic requirements and obligations of all parties involved. As a result of those earlier agreements, preliminary design, engineering and long-lead procurement work is already underway.
SNPTC announced in December, 2006 that it had selected the Westinghouse consortium and the AP1000 technology. Original bids for the four plants were submitted by Westinghouse and others competing for the project, in February, 2005.
The four plants are to be constructed in pairs at the Sanmen and Haiyang sites. Construction is expected to begin in 2009, with the first plant becoming operational in late 2013. The remaining three plants are expected to come on line in 2014 and 2015.
Westinghouse believes the AP1000 is ideally suited for the worldwide nuclear power marketplace. It has been selected as the technology of choice for no less than 12 advanced plants to be built in the United States over the next 10 to 12 years.
The AP1000 is attractive because it is:
o the safest, most advanced, yet proven nuclear power plant currently
available in the worldwide marketplace
o based on standard Westinghouse pressurized water reactor (PWR)
technology that has achieved more than 2,500 reactor years of highly
successful operation
o an 1100MWe design that is ideal for providing baseload generating
capacity
o modular in design, promoting ready standardization and high
construction quality
o economical to construct and maintain (less concrete and steel and fewer
components and systems mean there is less to install, inspect and
maintain)
o designed to promote ease of operation (features most advanced
instrumentation and control in the industry)
Westinghouse, 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, with Shaw, supplied the world's first PWR in 1957 in Shippingport, Pa. Today, Westinghouse technology is the basis for approximately one-half of the world's operating nuclear plants, including 60 percent of those in the United States.
Source: Westinghouse Electric Company LLC
CONTACT: Vaughn Gilbert, +1-412-374-3896, Scott Shaw, +1-412-374-6737, Westinghouse Electric Company LLC
Web site: http://www.westinghousenuclear.com/
