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WESTINGHOUSE, AMEREN MISSOURI AND THE MISSOURI ELECTRIC ALLIANCE REAFFIRM COMMITMENTS TO ADVANCE SMR TECHNOLOGY
Westinghouse Very Much Interested in New U.S. DOE Funding Opportunity to Develop and License its Passively Safe SMR Design
PITTSBURGH, Nov. 20, 2012 – Westinghouse Electric Company today confirmed its interest in applying for a new funding opportunity to be issued by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy in order to develop and license SMR technology. Upon successfully collaborating with the DOE in what would be a second phase of its investment program, the Westinghouse SMR would receive investment funds to accelerate the development and licensing of the passively safe design, which has the potential to provide an economic, secure source of emissions-free electricity generation to the world’s rapidly changing and diverse markets.
“The Westinghouse SMR has tremendous potential to advance clean nuclear energy technology and sustain U.S. nuclear industry leadership and competitiveness, and we have a partner in Ameren Missouri that is committed to collaborating with Westinghouse in this groundbreaking industry innovation," said Danny Roderick, Westinghouse president and chief executive officer. "We look forward to cooperatively working with the DOE to ultimately secure and match investment funds.”
“Working with Ameren Missouri, Burns & McDonnell, General Dynamics Electric Boat and the NexStart SMR Alliance, we will advance nuclear energy technology and economic development within the United States,” said Dr. Kate Jackson, chief technology officer and senior vice president, Westinghouse Research and Technology.
“Being the first-to-market with an American-manufactured SMR, Westinghouse, an American company headquartered in Pennsylvania for more than a century, will continue its global leadership of nuclear reactor technology and development. Using DOE NP2010 cost-share funds, Westinghouse delivered successfully the AP1000® reactor. Today, thousands are employed constructing four AP1000 units in the Southeastern United Sates that will ultimately produce safe, clean and reliable electricity for many generations to come. We are more than ready, willing and able to succeed again with a new DOE investment opportunity for SMR technology.”
After successfully negotiating a cooperative agreement with the DOE and securing the investment funds, the Westinghouse SMR team, including the NexStart SMR Alliance, a consortium of current and prospective nuclear plant owners and operators; cooperative, municipal and investor-owned electric service providers; and, other public and private enterprises, would work collaboratively to execute a proposed project having an objective of receiving from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) design certification of the Westinghouse SMR and then a combined construction and operating license for a Westinghouse SMR at Ameren Missouri's Callaway Energy Center. Additionally, the group will work to bring other economic development opportunities to the State of Missouri and elsewhere within the United States.
Warner Baxter, president and CEO of Ameren Missouri, said that a next phase of the DOE’s investment funding process is significant from both economic and environmental perspectives. “The advent of small modular reactors will further ensure that the United States continues to become increasingly energy independent, while also creating a transformational economic development opportunity for the state of Missouri and our country, potentially creating thousands of sustainable, clean energy jobs across a broad spectrum. Ameren Missouri, our alliance and the entire state of Missouri stand ready to capitalize on this important project that will also help create a cleaner energy portfolio for our state and our country.”
Recently, nearly 300 potential suppliers attended a Westinghouse and Ameren Missouri-sponsored supplier summit in St. Louis. Industry sectors representing trades and union labor included constructors, machining, advanced manufacturing, control systems, design and engineering, heavy equipment, coatings, piping, tank and storage, large forgings, site prep, and balance of plant services.
The Westinghouse SMR is a 225 MWe integral pressurized water reactor (PWR) with all primary components located inside of the reactor vessel. It is the company's next product innovation utilizing passive safety systems and proven components, as well as modular construction techniques – all realized and already licensed in the nuclear industry-leading AP1000® nuclear power plant design, the first Generation III+ reactor to receive Design
Certification from the U.S. NRC and currently being built in China and the U.S. Westinghouse believes that by building upon the concepts and advances in – technology achieved in the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor, the Westinghouse SMR design will provide licensing, construction and operational certainty that no other SMR supplier can match with competitive economics.
Westinghouse Electric Company, a group company of Toshiba Corporation (TKY:6502), is the world's pioneering nuclear energy company and is a leading supplier of nuclear plant products and technologies to utilities throughout the world. Westinghouse supplied the world's first pressurized water reactor in 1957 in Shippingport, Pa. Today, Westinghouse technology is the basis for approximately one-half of the world's operating nuclear plants.
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10:00 AM Eastern 11/23/2012
ATOMIC POWER REVIEW
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