Westinghouse Electric Company announced today that it has submitted a competitive bid to CEZ, a. s. to develop and deliver a turnkey dual-unit AP1000 plant for completing the Temelin Nuclear Power Plant Units 3 and 4 Project.
Westinghouse is confident in meeting the design, supply, construction, licensing and project criteria established by CEZ for the completion of the Temelin Project.
"Westinghouse's proposal meets or exceeds all mandatory requirements established in the Temelin Tender to provide CEZ with the most economically advantageous proposal," said Westinghouse Electric Company interim President and CEO Shigenori Shiga. "We are proud of the significant effort and investment we have made over the past 20 years to develop the AP1000 and are confident that CEZ will benefit from the safest and most reliable next generation nuclear plant built available on the worldwide marketplace, and at the overall lowest total installed and operating costs. We now look forward to working collaboratively and actively with CEZ throughout the evaluation and negotiation phases to further refine the bid and details of the project to ultimately achieve a mutually acceptable agreement for completing the project."
Westinghouse has formed a team by bringing together the design and construction skills of Westinghouse and Toshiba Corporation, combined with the Czech construction company Metrostav a.s and Czech nuclear safety instrumentation and control company, I&C Energo s.r.o. The Westinghouse/Czech team will continue to add local partners in the coming weeks and months that will not only bring benefits to the Czech economy, but, just as importantly, complete Temelin at the highest of international standards while achieving schedule and budget commitments. Significant engineering, construction and manufacturing expertise will be transferred to Czech companies, providing substantial opportunities in future nuclear plant projects throughout the world.
The AP1000 design is the only PWR design that includes advanced passive safety systems and extensive plant simplifications to enhance plant safety, construction, assembly, operation and maintenance. The plant design also uses proven, standardized technology, which is based on 50 years of operating PWR experience
The Westinghouse AP1000 reactor received Design Certification Amendment from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in December 2011. Earlier that same month, the AP1000 was issued Interim Design Approval in the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process from the U.K. Office for Nuclear Regulation. The AP1000 nuclear power plant is also compliant with European Utility Requirements (EUR), confirming that it can be successfully deployed in Europe. Moreover, the AP1000 PWR is the only Generation III+ design in the world to have received both U.S. and European regulatory approvals.
Currently, contracts for 10 AP1000 reactors have been placed around the world: four in China and six in the U.S. Nuclear safety construction recently commenced on four AP1000 units in the U.S. after utilities there received combined construction and operating licenses (COL) from the U.S. NRC. First concrete pour is scheduled to occur on the first two AP1000 units in late summer to early fall. In China, construction of the four AP1000 units there is progressing well and remains on schedule, with the first AP1000 unit on track to produce electricity by the end of 2013.