atw 2018-07

atw Vol. 63 (2018) | Issue 6/7 ı June/July
the United Kingdom and the United
States.
Framatome makes a point of
supporting its customers in the startup
of its EPR reactors and places its
depths of competencies at the disposal
of operators to help drive major new
build projects. So that today, so that
tomorrow, nuclear energy is and shall
remain a strategic choice for lowcarbon
and ever more reliable, safe
and competitive electricity.”
| | www.framatome.com
Westinghouse AP1000 plant
to load fuel
(westinghouse) Westinghouse Electric
Company, China State Nuclear Power
Technology Corporation (SNPTC)
and CNNC Sanmen Nuclear Power
Company Limited (SMNPC) announced
in April that the world’s first
unit of AP1000 nuclear power plant
located in Sanmen, Zhejiang Province,
China, has received the fuel load permit
from China’s National Nuclear
Safety Administration (NNSA) and has
commenced initial fuel loading.
“Today we have reached a tremendous
milestone for Westinghouse and
our AP1000 plant technology,” said
José Emeterio Gutiérrez, Westinghouse
president and chief executive
officer. “This is the next major step in
delivering the world’s first AP1000
plant to our customer and demonstrating
the benefits of our advanced
passive safety technology to the
world.”
Sanmen Unit 1 has successfully
completed all the necessary functional
tests as well as technical, safety and
Chinese regulatory reviews. The fuel
load process will be followed by initial
criticality, initial synchronization to
the electrical grid, and conservative,
step by step, power ascension testing,
until all testing is safely and successfully
completed at 100% power.
“This major project milestone
marks the start of the final commissioning
program for Sanmen Unit 1,”
said David Durham, Westinghouse
New Projects Business senior vice
president. “I am confident that our
teams will continue to operate at the
highest levels – at Sanmen, as well as
the Haiyang and Vogtle projects and
in our ongoing support of the worldwide
operating fleet.”
Commenting on Westinghouse’s
partnership with the Chinese government
and suppliers as key contributors
to the successful delivery of clean
energy, Gavin Liu, president – Asia
Region stated, “Westinghouse is
proud to be a partner in China’s
| | Westinghouse Sanmen (China) AP1000 plant to load fuel.
forward-looking nuclear energy
program, an effort that will provide
clean-air electricity to power China’s
economy. Through technology transfer,
localization and infrastructure
development, Westinghouse continues
to collaborate with our Chinese
partners and supports the development
of China’s nuclear power
industry.”
In 2007, Westinghouse successfully
won the bid for China’s generation
III+ nuclear power projects to build
two units of AP1000 reactors in Sanmen,
Zhejiang Province and two units
in Haiyang, Shandong Province. The
company has two additional units
currently under construction at the
Vogtle Electric Generating Plant near
Waynesboro, Georgia.
First criticality of the reactor is
expected to be achieved in JUne/July
2018.
| | www.westinghousenuclear.com
Nuclear pioneers looking
to solve our most pressing
challenges
• New “beyond electricity” capabilities
include process heat, deep
decarbonization
• Several advanced reactor designs
moving toward regulatory approval
• Novel uses for advanced nuclear
technologies will improve their
economics
• “When TerraPower was formed 12
years ago, we were not a nuclear
reactor developer. What we were
looking to do was to solve energy
poverty for one billion people and
to decarbonize the world.”
That was TerraPower’s President
Chris Levesque, speaking to a rapt
crowd at this year’s Nuclear Energy
Assembly (NEA), NEI’s annual conference.
No fewer than four panels
at the event drew packed audiences
excited to hear what the new types
of reactors just over the horizon
will bring.
More than 40 companies and research
institutions are investigating
small modular reactor (SMR) and
advanced nuclear reactor concepts.
And more are on the way.
On NEA’s first day, Dominion
Energy announced it is investing in
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s brandnew
BWRX-300 SMR design. “The
BWRX-300 represents a significant
improvement in the economics of new
nuclear, an imperative for the longterm
viability of the industry,” GE
Hitachi Executive Vice President of
Nuclear Plant Projects Jon Ball said.
But one of the main advantages of
advanced nuclear technologies is the
new and innovative uses they offer
beyond generating electricity. Their
ability to operate at higher temperatures
makes them available for industries
needing process heat for chemicals
production, desalination and
hydrogen production.
Utah Associated Municipal Power
Systems (UAMPS) is teaming with
small modular reactor developer
NuScale Power LLC to build a power
plant at the Idaho National Laboratory
in the 2020s. UAMPS Chief
Executive Officer Douglas Hunter
said NuScale’s small footprint and
enhanced safety will allow its
industrial customers to make the
most of the reactors’ process heat by
moving “right up to our fence line.”
Kathryn McCarthy, vice president
for research and development at
Canadian Nuclear Laboratories
(CNL), said one potential new revenue
stream for SMRs in Canada is producing
hydrogen to decarbonize
the transportation sector, including
long-distance trucks, trains and the
Toronto light rail system. CNL also is
looking at how nuclear plants can
operate in load-following mode to
better balance intermittent wind and
solar generation.
Levesque said TerraPower’s Traveling
Wave Reactor design is now
moving out of the research phase and
entering the test phase, with a view to
obtaining regulatory approvals from
the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
or China’s National Nuclear
Safety Administration. The company
also is working on a molten chloride
fast reactor concept and has several
domestic and overseas partners on
both projects.
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NEWS
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