Read the Nuclear Industry Spotlight - Intergraph

Viewpoint: Washington group
A Nuclear Revival
Washington Group International engineers and constructs the coming generation
of nuclear power plants
n By Rod Hunt
As the world searches for more energy to meet
the needs of a growing population and spur
economic development, there is a mounting
interest in what many feel is the cleanest, most
dependable, and efficient source of electrical
generation – nuclear power.
This need for new sources of energy is exacerbated
by what many experts say will be a doubling of
people in the middle class by the year 2020 (middle
class is defined as someone who can afford a
home and a car, has clean drinking water, and a
savings account). It is predicted that somewhere
between one billion and 1½ billion people will
emerge into the middle class. Today, fewer than
1½ billion of the world’s 6.3 billion people qualify
as middle class. Most of this upward mobility
will occur in India and China if those countries
continue economically.
Nuclear power has the support and attention of
major industrial countries and their leaders. U.S.
President George Bush and Tony Blair, the prime
minister of Great Britain, have endorsed nuclear
power as the best way to meet the world’s energy
needs and solve environmental problems such as
global warming.
“How can we meet the demands for new power
if we build the same kind of power plants that we
have built in the past?” asked Blair during a speech
supporting a revival of nuclear power at the World
Economic Forum in Switzerland in 2005.
In this new climate, several public utilities are laying
the groundwork to build the first U.S. nuclear
plants in decades, the first of which could be
operating as early as 2015. The first six new plants
will receive major incentives under the recently
enacted Energy Policy Act of 2005, which contains
a number of provisions to boost nuclear power
development. Washington Group International
plans to be a major player in the creation of
these projected plants, which are expected to cost
between $2 billion and $4 billion each.
“The nuclear renaissance provides a significant
opportunity for Washington Group,” said George
Nash, senior vice president – business development
of the company’s Power Business Unit.
With so much at stake, many engineering and
construction companies will likely form competitive
partnerships to pursue the anticipated
contracts. But Washington Group will have only
two true competitors for major contracts on these
plants, according to Art Lembo, president of Steam
Generating Team Ltd. (SGT). SGT is a Washington
Group-led joint venture that specializes in the
replacement of large components, such as steam
generators, in nuclear power plants.
“There are few companies with the projectmanagement
ability to this scale,” Lembo said.
“The companies that demonstrate that they can
manage the spending for the utilities will be
the victors.”
The largest bidding battles are likely years away,
but it’s safe to say that no company is better
positioned than Washington Group to obtain
these contracts. The company is the engineer
or constructor of record of more megawatts of
total generating capacity than any competitor,
including 29 of the nation’s 103 operating
nuclear units. Washington Group is also one
of only two U.S. companies engaged in the
replacement of major nuclear plant components
such as steam generators.
Perhaps most important to the utility companies,
Washington Group enjoys an excellent reputation
4 Insight
Insight: Special Focus