China to buy four AP1000 reactors
In a deal brokered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), China is ordering four Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactors for plants to be constructed at Sanmen, in the eastern province of Zhejiang, and Yangjing, in the southern Guangdong province. Westinghouse, The Shaw Group, and China's State Nuclear Power Technology Co. signed an agreement in Beijing on December 16 to negotiate the details of the sale.
At the same time, U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman and Ma Kai, chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission (Figure 1), signed a memorandum of understanding to support the technology transfer. The Associated Press commented, "The agreement capped several days of top-level trade talks between China and the United States that otherwise yielded few concrete results. It was signed on the sidelines of a closed-door meeting of five major oil-importing nations hosted by China."
1. Paying attention. U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman (center) listens intently in Beijing as the U.S. and China sign a technology transfer deal that will see Westinghouse sell four nuclear units to China. Courtesy: U.S. Department of Energy
Westinghouse won the reactor order by beating out France/Germany's AREVA NP and Russia's Atomstroyexport. According to The New York Times, China excluded General Electric from the competition because it was not interested in a boiling water reactor. The Westinghouse, AREVA, and Russian reactors are all pressurized-water units.
Westinghouse, recently bought by Japan's Toshiba Corp., claims the deal benefits both the U.S. and China. Westinghouse CEO Steve Tritch said, "China benefits because it will move closer to its goal of energy independence through deployment of the AP1000 technology, which is in our view the safest and most efficient nuclear power plant now available in the worldwide marketplace. The United States benefits through both job creation and the multi-billion dollar export of products, technology, and services."
Tritch acknowledged that about half of the work on the four plants will be sourced in China. "Over time, though," he added, "as Westinghouse wins additional contracts for new plant work in China, additional scope will be sourced in-country. However, Westinghouse, our U.S. supplier base, and our consortium partners will continue to benefit much as we do now in the Republic of Korea, where recent new plant awards from that country's maturing industry still provide about $100 million per plant in U.S. scope."
According to a DOE news release, the U.S. began working with China to support a bid by a U.S. reactor vendor in 2004, when Spencer Abraham was energy secretary. The DOE in the 1990s funded the AP600, the AP1000's predecessor, under the Advanced Light Water Reactor program, and is engaged in a cost-sharing agreement with Westinghouse for the AP1000 detailed design, an upgrade of the previously approved 600-MW AP600. "The total design is set to cost $436 million, of which DOE will fund $218 million over seven years, FY 2005-FY 2011," the agency said.
The 1,100-MW AP1000 reactor (Figure 2) features passive safety features based on gravity, thermal circulation (conduction and convection), and other natural physical phenomena to reduce the need for man-made pumps, valves, and other engineered equipment.
2. Naturally safer. Westinghouse's advanced AP1000 reactor features many passive safety features—including gravity, convection, and conduction—and relies much less on engineered safety. Source: Westinghouse
Email
Comments
Print
Reuse
