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The Nuclear Regulatory Commission unanimously approved a radical new reactor design on Thursday, clearing away a major obstacle for two utilities to begin construction on projects in South Carolina and Georgia. The decision, a milestone in the much-delayed revival of plant construction sought by the nuclear industry, involves the (new) Westinghouse AP1000, a 1,154-megawatt reactor design… China is in advanced stages of constructing four units of an earlier version of the AP1000. The first unit is scheduled to go online in 2013, about three years before the first one would begin operating in the United States. Congress has approved $18.5...

ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) — When commercial nuclear power was getting its start in the 1960s and 1970s, industry and regulators stated unequivocally that reactors were designed only to operate for 40 years. Now they tell another story — insisting that the units were built with no inherent life span, and can run for up to a century, an Associated Press investigation shows. By rewriting history, plant owners are making it easier to extend the lives of dozens of reactors in a relicensing process that resembles nothing more than an elaborate rubber stamp. As part of a yearlong investigation of aging...

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said on Friday that it found additional technical issues with Westinghouse Electric Corp.'s new AP1000 nuclear power reactor design, prompting critics to call for a suspension of the agency's license review process. The commission raised questions regarding the shield building situated over the reactor in the AP1000 design, as well as the peak accident pressures expected within the containment unit. The agency said it would consider what impact the technical issues will have on scheduled AP1000-related application reviews after its staff examines Westinghouse's response. As far back as October 2009, the commission had raised concerns about...

Editor's note: This is the second of two parts: Yesterday's segment shared Motorola's and Apple's experiences doing business with China. Click here to read it. Westinghouse Electric Co. is sharing important technical information about its next-generation nuclear reactors with China with the hope that it will create business -- and not a competitive monster. China has 13 nuclear reactors, 25 under construction, and many more planned, said Westinghouse spokesman Vaughn Gilbert. China will spend an estimated $120 billion during the next nine years, a sum expected to more than double by 2030. The Cranberry-based company says it's confident that in...

U.S. CEOs IN BRAZIL WITH OBAMA JEFFREY R. IMMELT - CEO, GENERAL ELECTRIC Jeffrey Robert Immelt.. Immelt will retain his post at G.E. while becoming "chairman of the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, a newly named panel that President Obama is creating by executive order."ARIS CANDRIS - CEO, WESTINGHOUSE Prior to this appointment, Dr. Candris served as senior vice president, Nuclear Fuel, providing fuel fabrication, components and services to commercial nuclear power plants worldwide.JAMES T. HACKETT – CEO, ANADARKO PETROLEUM CORP He currently serves as a director of Fluor Corporation, Halliburton Company and The Welch Foundation.JOHN V. FARACI – CEO,...

Anti-nuclear power activists petitioned the Nuclear Regulatory Commission yesterday to investigate their claims of design flaws in new Westinghouse Electric Co.'s reactors that could lead to radiation emissions. Both the company and the regulator rejected claims the yet-to-be-built reactor would likely corrode and said regular inspections would catch any deterioration early on. The AP1000 Oversight Group — named for the "Advanced Passive" Westinghouse AP1000 design — said the commission should suspend license approval of the nuclear reactor until the design "defects" are corrected. The group alleges the space between the outer shield building and the structure that contains the reactor...

<p>Westinghouse Electric Co. must prove that the building it designed to shield its nuclear reactors can withstand natural disasters such as strong earthquakes, hurricanes and tornadoes before the reactors are approved for a Georgia power plant, a federal agency said yesterday.</p>

The nuclear power industry that reawakened only a couple years ago is getting a booster shot these days from much-smaller reactors that would be far more affordable. Once again, Westinghouse Electric Co. is at the core of the trend. It's designing a small nuclear reactor the size of a bus that can be built in a factory and shipped to a power plant. It would generate up to one-quarter the power of current nuclear reactors, but cost about one-tenth as much. Small modular reactors, as they're called, are being designed by several companies that could be installed as early as...

A project to build the nation's first new nuclear plant in 30 years is eligible for $8.3 billion in federal loan guarantees -- even though the Westinghouse Electric Co. reactors to be used in the plant don't have final Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval. President Obama announced Tuesday that the loan guarantees will be offered to four electric utilities that would own the expanded Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro, Ga. Two new reactors are to be built there at a cost of about $14 billion. The main sticking point now is the commission's criticisms of Cranberry-based Westinghouse's design for buildings to house...

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with Westinghouse Electric Co. next week to discuss the safety of its proposed AP1000 nuclear-reactor design. Toshiba Corp.'s Westinghouse unit will address the commission's concern about the structural integrity of the silo-shaped shield building that would contain the reactor and trap radioactivity in an accident, NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko said. Containment buildings at existing reactors were poured at the site as a solid piece of steel-reinforced concrete, Jaczko said. Westinghouse wants to piece the building together from sections, he said. "When you're dealing with the kinds of accident scenarios that we look at, or...

Yesterday the fourth law suit, challenging Obama's citizenship and Natural Born status reached the Supreme Court: 1. Philip J Berg, PA An answer from Barack Obama is due by Dec.1 2. Leo C. Donofrio, NJ The case is scheduled for conference by all 9 judges on Dec 5 3.Chris Strunck, NY filed with SCOTUS last week 4. Cort Wrotnowski, CT (second case)filed yesterday. many more to come... As explained earlier, Hawaii allows one to obtain a Certification of Hawaiian Live Birth based on a statement of one relative only. It means,that while Obama was born in Kenya, his grandma or...

Westinghouse Electric Co. yesterday assigned senior executive Ricardo G. Perez to develop the Monroeville-based company's strategy for capitalizing on anticipated worldwide growth in the nuclear power industry. Mr. Perez, 49, was named to the newly created position of senior vice president of global growth and innovation. The 27-year Westinghouse veteran had been senior vice president of nuclear services. That position will be filled by Nick Liparulo, 58, currently vice president of engineering services. "We cannot afford to take a 'wait-and-see' attitude toward the market," said Aris Candris, Westinghouse president and chief executive officer. "We must proactively evaluate every aspect of...

Westinghouse strikes deal to build US nuclear power plants Apr 8 07:52 PM US/Eastern Westinghouse Electric, a unit of the Japanese Toshiba Corp., said Tuesday it had struck a deal with Georgia Power to build two nuclear power plants in the southern United States, the first such projects in 30 years. The two Westinghouse AP1000 power plants will be located at a site near Augusta, Georgia which already had two existing nuclear reactors.

Twelve nuclear power reactors could be ordered at once by struggling South African generator Eskom. Today [31Jan08] Areva and Westinghouse both submitted one proposal each for two or three reactors, and another for 12 or 17.

The United States has kept a tight grip on to its peaceful nuclear technology for decades, forcing emerging nations like China to purchase Russian, French and Canadian designs. American company Westinghouse, however, has been allowed to deliver its newest third-generation nuclear plant to China. Radio Australia's Adam Connors reports that the need for energy over the coming few decades is reaching a fever pitch in red-hot economies like China. Energy analyst with the International Atomic Energy Agency, Alan McDonald, told Radio Australia that China and India will be the most veracious about the most controversial energy source of all. "China...

BEIJING -- Westinghouse Electric Co. signed deals today to build four nuclear power plants in China and to transfer technology for its newest reactor to a Chinese partner, a cost of gaining a foothold in the country's fast-growing industry. Westinghouse President Steve Tritch described the deal for third-generation AP1000 reactors as "multibillion-dollar contracts," but said the Chinese buyers asked the company not to disclose details. The deal calls for Westinghouse to hand over technology for the AP1000 to China's government-owned State Nuclear Power Technology Corp., making it the basis for Chinese efforts to develop a nuclear industry. "The signing of...

Monroeville firm will build four plants along China's eastern coast starting in 2009 After 21/2 years, Westinghouse Electric finally has a "framework agreement" to build four nuclear power plants in China, starting in 2009. The project details, revealed yesterday, differ somewhat from a tentative agreement touted last December during a high-profile ceremony in Beijing. Instead of two plants in the south and two in the east of the world's most-populous nation, Monroeville-based Westinghouse now will build all four plants along the eastern coast, near the East China Sea. Two will go in Sanmen, about 150 miles south of Shanghai, and...

Westinghouse Electric Co.'s long-time nuclear-power partner, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., is ending its alliance to help the Monroeville corporation develop the AP 1000 advanced nuclear reactor. Kazuo Tsukuda, president of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, said during a meeting in Tokyo on Monday that the Japanese company would terminate agreements to license technology to and from Westinghouse, according to a Bloomberg News report. Westinghouse has partnered with Mitsubishi for nuclear power development since 1959. Westinghouse spokesman Vaughn Gilbert could not confirm the report. Mitsubishi officials could not be reached.

France tries to gain China nuclear foothold By Peggy Hollinger and Martin Arnold in Paris France will this week attempt to salvage a role for its nuclear industry in China's multi-billion dollar energy programme after Beijing opted for third-generation power plants designed by Westinghouse of the US rather than the French Areva. Chinese officials arrive in Paris on Tuesday to discuss future industrial cooperation with the French government, which is hoping to secure a role for its EDF electricity group in the construction and operation of the plants. EDF is one of the world's biggest nuclear operators with 59 reactors...

BEIJING - China and the United States on Saturday signed an agreement that paves the way for Westinghouse Electric Co. to build four civilian nuclear reactors in China, a multibillion dollar deal. The memorandum of understanding was signed by China's Minister for the National Development and Reform Commission Ma Kai and U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman. Stephen Tritch, Westinghouse's president and CEO, said the details of the contract have yet to be finalized but that it was a multibillion dollar deal. He said the company want the plants up and running by 2013. Westinghouse, which was acquired by Japan's Toshiba...

HARRISBURG -- Gov. Ed Rendell signed a bill today that is aimed at persuading Westinghouse Electric Co. to stay and expand in Pennsylvania by locating its new engineering campus, with at least 1,500 additional employees, in one of three southwestern Pennsylvania sites.

CORVALLIS, Ore. It may seem a mere tangle of pipes and instruments to the untrained eye. To nuclear engineer Jose Reyes, it's a sign of a coming nuclear-power plant revival in the United States with electricity produced more safely and for less money than the atomic behemoths built in the 20th century. This jumble of technology is a one-quarter-scale model of the Westinghouse AP1000 power plant. Reyes heads a team at Oregon State University that built the model to test the AP1000's so-called passive safety systems, under contract with the U.S. Department of Energy and Westinghouse. "We've conducted 20 tests...

A HUSBAND IS AT HOME WATCHING A FOOTBALL GAME WHEN HIS WIFE INTERRUPTS, HONEY, COULD YOU FIX THE LIGHT IN THE HALLWAY? IT'S BEEN FLICKERING FOR WEEKS NOW. HE LOOK AT HER AND SAYS ANGRILY, FIX THE LIGHTS NOW? DOES IT LOOK LIKE I HAVE GE WRITTEN ON MY FOREHEAD? I DON'T THINK SO. FINE, THEN THE WIFE ASKS, WELL THEN, COULD YOU FIX THE FRIDGE DOOR? IT WON'T CLOSE RIGHT TO WHICH HE REPLIED, FIX THE FRIDGE DOOR? DOES IT LOOK LIKE I HAVE WESTINGHOUSE WRITTEN ON MY FOREHEAD? I DON'T THINK SO FINE, SHE SAYS, THEN YOU COULD...

YEREVAN, May 3 (Itar-Tass) -- Armenia will build a new nuclear power plant with the capacity of 1,000 megawatt, Finance and Economy Minister Vartan Khachatrian said on Tuesday, after the 12th meeting of the Armenian-U.S. economic cooperation group. He said the new power plant will replace the old one with the capacity of 440 megawatt. The United States objects to building a new nuclear power plant in Armenia for safety reasons, as the country is located in a seismically active zone, U.S. coordinator for Europe and Eurasia Thomas Adams said. Not a single American company will agree to build a...

LONDON (AP) - Japan's Toshiba Corp. is buying nuclear plant builder Westinghouse Electric Co., the U.S.-based unit of the British government's British Nuclear Fuels PLC, for $5.4 billion US. Toshiba said it will acquire 100 per cent of Westinghouse but it expects to have several minority investors who want to become involved. "With Westinghouse, Toshiba will be a global nuclear power business organization committed to delivering world-class nuclear power generation systems and services, backed up by proven technology, reliability and superb efficiency," Atsutoshi Nishida, president and CEO of Toshiba, said in a statement. The high-profile battle for control of Westinghouse...

Winning Westinghouse Electric bidder to pay $5.4 billion Nuclear power's surge in popularity lifts price British Nuclear Fuels PLC yesterday inked a deal to sell Westinghouse Electric Co. to Toshiba Corp. for $5.4 billion -- nearly triple what BNFL initially expected Westinghouse to fetch, reflecting an anticipated worldwide resurgence in building nuclear power plants. BNFL, which announced a tentative agreement with the Tokyo-based electronics giant last month, said it expects the sale to be completed in about six months. In a news conference in London, Toshiba reiterated that Westinghouse would remain headquartered in Monroeville and "retain its current intellectual property,...

NRC OKs Westinghouse nuclear plant design Westinghouse Electric Co.'s nuclear plant design using pressurized water was approved Friday by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a move the company said could lead to the first construction of a nuclear power plant in the United States since before the Three Mile Island accident in 1979. Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse's Advanced Passive 1000 nuclear plant design uses pressurized water to fire the plant. France's Areva also has a pressurized-water design, while General Electric Co. uses a boiling water model. In a statement, Westinghouse senior vice president Daniel Lipman said the action was a positive step. "Westinghouse...

Monday August 22, 3:43 PM S.Korea's Doosan Heavy may bid for WestinghouseSEOUL, Aug 22 (Reuters) - South Korea's Doosan Heavy Industries said on Monday it was considering bidding in a consortium to buy U.S. nuclear power plant builder Westinghouse Electric Co. from British nuclear energy company BNFL. South Korea's largest manufacturer of power generation equipment would be able to reduce costs and acquire nuclear technology and know-how from the U.S. firm if a bid was successful, analysts said. Westinghouse provides nuclear fuel services, technology, plant design and equipment for nuclear power producers. State-owned BNFL bought the business, which employs about...

Mitsubishi Heavy offers to buy nuclear plant builder WestinghouseSunday, July 10, 2005 at 07:00 JST TOKYO — Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd has offered to purchase major U.S. nuclear power plant builder Westinghouse Electric Co in a multibillion yen deal, company officials said Saturday. The move is intended to increase Mitsubishi Heavy's profitability by tapping new fields as its bottom line has been squeezed by cutbacks in public works spending in Japan, they said. Westinghouse's parent firm, British nuclear reprocessing group British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL), said last week it was putting the U.S. company up for sale. Apart from Mitsubishi, France's...

US's $5 billion nuclear gamble with China By Kaushik Kapisthalam On the surface, it's the biggest deal in the history of the Export-Import Bank of the United States - US$5 billion to finance the building of Chinese nuclear power plants by US firms in the energy-starved economic giant. But there's much more to it than big business: closer scrutiny and interviews with experts reveal a weak, inconsistent and ultimately dangerous US policy with regard to China and its past (some say present) weapons proliferation, as well as China's own efforts to acquire nuclear reactors and other Western high technology that...

There is an arm of the Chinese government that has repeatedly aided the nuclear weapons programs of Pakistan and Iran. Now that arm is in line for a $5-billion loan deal from the U.S. government--for the benefit of two major U.S. corporations. The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im), an independent federal agency that finances exports, has granted a preliminary commitment for the largest deal in it is history: $5 billion in loans and loan guarantees to the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) to build nuclear power plants. According to U.S. government reports, CNNC has been tied to at...

CITY: HEMATITE REGION: 3 COUNTY: JEFFERSON STATE: MO 10 CFR SECTION: PAAB 74.11(a) LOST/STOLEN SNM SCRAP ZIRCONIUM RODS SHIPPED TO RECYCLER IN CANADA CONTAINING U-235 FUEL PELLETS Between 3-4 weeks ago Westinghouse Hematite shipped approximately 18,000 scrap zirconium rods to Mississauga Metals and Alloys, Inc. in Brampton, Ontario, Canada for recycling. Scrap zirconium rods require a 100% visual inspection prior to shipment offsite to ensure that they do not contain any fuel pellets. Last Thursday on 7/24/03, the recycler discovered thirty-six (36) U-235 pellets (4.2 w/o) after processing about 25% of the scrap rods.The individual at Mississauga responsible for contacting...