Westinghouse is helping to dismantle Spain’s first commercial nuclear plant.
In a release Thursday, the Pennsylvania-headquartered Toshiba subsidiary said it will segment the reactor pressure vessel and RPV head at the decommissioned José Cabrera nuclear plant near Madrid. The work will entail upfront engineering studies and careful planning of how the components will be detached and lifted into the plant’s spent fuel pool. Once immersed, they will be cut mechanically.
Westinghouse did not disclose the value of the contract. It reported that Monlain and VSL will be its primary subcontractors. The work will take about two years and began in June.
According to Spain’s Nuclear Safety Council (CSN), the plant was placed into service in 1968. Its Westinghouse pressurized water reactor produced 510 megawatts thermal, generating about 150 megawatts electric until its closure in 2006.