Nuclear Power Industry News

Blog Post: Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant Weekly Review

Nuclear Street News — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:32:00 GMT

Tokyo Electric Power Co. arrested an unexpected rise in temperature at Fukushima Daiichi unit 2 this week and also scheduled the shutdown of the company's last operating reactor.

Recent developments at the nuclear plant blacked out by the earthquake and tsunami last March include:

Unit 2 Temperature Falls

Following pipe repair and concurrent adjustments to cooling water at the unit 2 reactor, temperature readings inside began rising from 45 C after Jan. 26. Readings varied among gauges placed at different locations in the reactor pressure vessel, with a TEPCO spokesman telling Bloomberg that one reached 72.2 C Monday morning. TEPCO increased the volume of water injected into the reactor by about a third and also injected boron Tuesday as a precaution. No increase in Xenon has been detected that would suggest recriticality. A TEPCO release placed the RPV temperature at 66.8 C as of Thursday morning.

Last TEPCO Reactor Scheduled to Go Offline

Unit 6 at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant will shut down for maintenance March 26, TEPCO announced Thursday, leaving the company with none of its 17 reactors in service. Kyodo reported TEPCO hopes to restart reactors at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa in 2013 at the earliest. As with plants across the country, the ability of the units to gain local government approval to restart remains an open question. The Daily Yomiuri quoted unnamed officials as saying government plans called for the restart of two reactors at Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Ohi plant by the end of April, but the country’s trade minister later disavowed the report. Unless units idled over the last year for inspections and maintenance are restarted, all 54 of Japan’s reactors will be offline in April.

Tsunami Likely Higher Than First Thought

The first survey of its kind in Fukushima Prefecture since the accident suggests the tsunami that hit the plant on March 11, 2011, was even taller than originally thought. The waves that topped the plant’s defenses were originally estimated at 15 meters high. The Daily Yomiuri reported Thursday that researchers from the University of Tokyo found evidence the waves near Fukushima may have topped that. At one point 8 kilometers south of the plant, researchers said waves reached 21.1 meters high.

Photo: Workers clear dust, oil and debris from a parking lot at Fukushima Dec. 16 for dose reduction. Source: TEPCO

Blog Post: French President Voices Support for Aging Nuclear Plant, Sets Contrast With Election Opponent

Nuclear Street News — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:28:00 GMT

Reinforcing his support for the future of nuclear power, which has become a key issue in the May elections, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday that he would not shut down the 34- and 35-year-old reactors at the Fessenheim nuclear plant.

Sarkozy and his opponent, Francois Hollande, disagree on the fate of Fessenheim and aging plants like it. Twenty two French reactors will reach the end of their 40-year design lives over the next decade. Sarkozy supports modifications to extend their use, while Hollande supports bringing nuclear’s share of French power generation down to 50 percent by 2025.

Popular support for nuclear power declined in France following the Fukushima Daiichi accidents in Japan but remains strong. About three fourths of the country’s power comes from EDF’s 58 reactors. Last year Hollande’s Socialist Party and the Green Party agreed on a platform that would decommission 24 reactors by 2025.

Blog Post: NRC Approves Vogtle Reactor Construction - First New Nuclear Plant Approval in 34 Years (With new plant photos)

Cam Abernethy — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:27:00 GMT

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the combined license for two new AP1000 reactors at Georgia's Vogtle nuclear plant Thursday afternoon -- the first time since 1978 a new nuclear plant has been licensed in the U.S.

Southern Company has made substantial progress since obtaining an early site permit in 2009, and the final COL is critical to the construction schedule. The approval was long anticipated, with the NRC issuing a final safety evaluation report for the project last August. But the final approval was slowed by a review of the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor design, which was delayed as regulators evaluated design ammendments to meet enhanced aircraft impact resistance requirements. The AP1000 was approved in late December.

"Vogtle units 3 and 4 will represent a new era of nuclear safety," Commissioner William D. Magwood said following the COL approval. He also noted the mandatory hearing alone took 7,000 staff hours, and that he and other comissioners felt there was no reason to stop progress on new nuclear plants while the commission is reviewing safety regulations in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi accident in Japan.

Chairman Gregory B. Jaczko cast the lone dissenting vote on the COL approval, saying it should include some binding commitment that changes in federal requirments arising from the NRC's post-Fukushima work would be implimented at the new units before their completion.

Southern is building the new reactors with Oglethorpe Power Corporation (holding 30 percent ownership), the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (22.7 percent) and Dalton Utilities (1.6 percent). The project is expected to cost $13.3 billion, and Southern estimates it will create 5,000 construction jobs and 800 permanent jobs. Southern filed its application for the COL in 2008.

(click pictures to enlarge)

Blog Post: Czechs Downsize Nuclear Power Ambitions

Nuclear Street News — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:49:00 GMT

The Czech industry and trade minister has said his government will likely scale back its proposed nuclear build, aiming to generate about half of the country’s power from reactors, compared to 80 percent in an earlier plan.

In an interview with the Hospodarske Noviny newspaper, Martin Kuba described a proposal to reach 80 percent nuclear power by 2060 as economically unrealistic. Instead, he said it is more likely that the Eastern European country will complete two new units at its Temelin plant and extend the life of the reactors at Dukovany.

The six reactors currently operating in the Czech Republic represent about a third of its power generation, according to the World Nuclear Association, and the newspaper said the Temelin project would bring nuclear’s share up to about 50 percent. Westinghouse, Areva, Atomstroyexport and Skoda JS are in the process of bidding for a contract to build two new 1,200 megawatt reactors at Temelin. The country also conducted a feasibility study for a new reactor at Dukovany, a project that Kuba’s statements suggest will not go forward.

Blog Post: Valinox Nucléaire Announces New Steam Generator Tubing Contract with AREVA

Nuclear Street News — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:59:00 GMT

Vallourec announced today that Valinox Nucléaire, its subsidiary specializing in the production of tubing for nuclear power plants, has been awarded a contract by Areva to manufacture tubes for the steam generators of two reactors of 1300 MW.

This contract relates to the EDF program announced in September 2011, to gradually replace large components of its 1300 MW power plants, which attributed the building of new steam generators for 11 reactors to Areva and Westinghouse.

These steam generators feature an inner circuit made up of 122 kilometers of nickel-alloy tubes designed to create steam, which is then used to produce electricity via a turbine.

In 2011, Valinox Nucléaire completed a production expansion at its plant in Montbard (Burgundy, France).

Blog Post: Prairie Island Nuclear Plant Reports Condensate Leak

Nuclear Street News — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:34:00 GMT

Xcel Energy’s Prairie Island nuclear plant cleaned up a spill containing a miniscule amount of tritium after a pump circulating condensate failed Friday.

An event report filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission indicated 27 gallons overflowed onto the ground at the plant near Minneapolis, Minn. The water contained 11.2 parts per billion of hydrazine and 15,000 picocuries per liter of tritium, which is below EPA limits for drinking water.

According to the report: "The condensate was released from [the] parts warehouse 1 heating steam system overflow vent. Condensate return pumps failed to operate causing 27 gallons of condensate to back up and overflow onto the ground. A catch basin has been installed and the steam inlet valve has been closed preventing the addition of steam into the system.”

Both of the roughly 550 megawatt Westinghouse pressurized water reactors at Prairie Island continued to operate at full power after the leak was found. A spokeswoman told Bloomberg the leak occurred in a building heated by steam from the non-nuclear loop that drives the turbines, and that it did not compromise the safety of workers or the public.

Blog Post: New UK Energy Minister Changes Course, Supports Nuclear Build

Nuclear Street News — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:32:00 GMT

In a reversal of his previous political work advocating against nuclear power in the UK, the country’s newly installed energy minister stated he is not opposed to an agreement that envisions new reactors.

Ed Davey was appointed Friday, replacing the previous energy secretary who resigned in a political scandal related to traffic tickets. Davey’s Liberal Democrat party opposed new nuclear plant construction, and the Daily Mail reported Davey used to issue anti-nuclear press releases as its spokesman for trade and industry in 2006. On Sunday, though, the new energy secretary said he would not disrupt an agreement reached earlier by the British government to build new plants, provided they are not subsidized with public money.

About 18 percent of the country’s power comes from 18 reactors, but 17 of them are scheduled to be decommissioned in the next 11 years. To replace that power, and as part of efforts to fight global warming, the government began soliciting sites for new reactors in 2009. Parliament approved eight sites, streamlined the planning process and began reviewing the Westinghouse AP1000 and Areva EPR designs in 2011, according to the World Nuclear Association. Its reactor database currently lists four EPRs as “planned” in the UK and a total of 9 reactors as “proposed.”

Blog Post: TVA: Watts Bar 2 Facing “Challenges with Schedule and Costs”

Nuclear Street News — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:27:00 GMT

In a recent regulatory filing, the Tennessee Valley Authority warned that completion of its Watts Bar 2 project will likely be pushed into 2013 and cost more than expected.

Blaming lower productivity and likely regulatory changes in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi accidents, TVA wrote to the Securities and Exchange commission: “The project’s schedule and cost estimates are currently under assessment and will be revised. The revised completion date for Watts Bar Unit 2 may extend past calendar year 2013, rather than being in the last quarter of calendar year 2012 as had been previously scheduled, and project costs are expected to significantly exceed the previous estimate of $2.5 billion.”

TVA plans to complete revisions to the project’s cost and schedule in the second quarter of this year. TVA is also conducting a root-cause analysis of the construction delays at the east Tennessee plant. Additionally, if Watts Bar completion is pushed back significantly, it could also delay the start of construction on another partially finished TVA reactor at the Bellefonte site in Alabama.

The quarterly report filed Friday follows a recent unpaid work stoppage and additional safety training after contractor employees improperly removed a valve from the new reactor and moved cables from a backup system at the plant’s operating reactor.

Initial construction on Watts Bar 2 began in the 1970s but stalled in 1988. TVA restarted construction on the pressurized water reactor in 2007.

Blog Post: Temporary Nuclear Plant Shutdowns May Follow Electricity Surpluses in Canadian Province

Nuclear Street News — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:33:00 GMT

Rising electricity supplies and short-term lulls in power demand have left grid operators in Ontario, Canada, considering the inopportune step of temporarily shutting down reactors to regulate power supplies.

At an industry event, the head of the province's Independent Electricity System Operator said the organization may not be able to avoid temporary nuclear plant shutdowns in the future as surplus baseload generation periodically forces the sale of electricity to neighboring provinces. The Ottawa Citizen reported Ontario power generators paid $35 million in the first half of 2011 under “negative pricing” to persuade neighboring provinces to accept periods of surplus power that have become increasingly common since 2005.

Bad economic conditions, a transition in industry from manufacturing to resource processing, seasonal demand changes and conservation measures contribute to the surpluses, as will the refurbishment of two disused reactors at the Bruce nuclear plant. The surpluses can last only a handful of hours, so the lengthy process to bring a reactor back online is cumbersome for matching power supply and demand. If the surpluses of baseload generation continue in the coming years, the province might also have to reconcile power demand with a proposal to build a new nuclear plant in Ontario.

Blog Post: Worker OK After Falling Into SONGS Reactor Pool

Nuclear Street News — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:27:00 GMT

A worker fell into the cooling water of San Onofre unit 2 during a recent reactor pressure vessel head replacement, prompting a review of safety procedures at the California nuclear plant.

A Southern California Edison spokesman on Thursday told the North County Times the veteran contractor employee lost his balance retrieving a flashlight on Jan. 27. He was uninjured and had been wearing safety equipment that included a life vest.

The Combustion Engineering pressurized water reactor at unit 2 was not loaded with fuel during the work, and a medical screening estimated his dose at 5 millirem – slightly more than a chest X-ray. He went back to work the same day. Nonetheless, the spokesman said the utility is reviewing its safety procedures for work around the pool and is looking at using ropes to prevent falls.

Blog Post: Canadian Regulator Issues Favorable Environmental Review for Strateco Uranium Project

Nuclear Street News — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:28:00 GMT

Two Canadian agencies issued approvals for Strateco’s Matoush uranium project last week, paving the way for final approval from the country’s top nuclear regulator.

On Thursday the minister of the environment issued a federal environmental assessment favorable to the project and the mitigation efforts proposed by the company, according to a release from the ministry.

Strateco also reported receiving approval for the project and its agreements with native tribes from federal administrator of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement. The approvals mean the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission can hold a hearing on the mine, its final step before making a licensing decision.

Last month, consultants quoted on Strateco’s website update the resource estimate for the Matoush site:

“At a cut-off grade of 0.10% U3O8, indicated mineral resources are estimated to total 453,000 tonnes grading 0.78% U3O8 containing 7.78 million pounds U3O8. Inferred mineral resources are estimated to total 2.04 million tonnes grading 0.43% U3O8 containing 19.22 million pounds.”

Blog Post: Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant Weekly Review

Nuclear Street News — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:27:00 GMT

A U.N. agency has found the initial health impacts of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi accident to be minimal, while another international body recently gave its approval to the so-called stress tests for the country’s other reactors. At Fukushima itself, the news was less encouraging, as leaks continue to plague the complex system of pipes moving contaminated water between treatment facilities and the damaged units.

Developments at the nuclear plant damaged following the earthquake and tsunami last March include:

Early evacuations helped reduce health impact

At a meeting this week to discuss the health effects of the accident, researchers from the U.N. Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation said screening of people near the plant turned up radiation doses that were very low. Some 80,000 residents evacuated following the plant blackout, which helped keep the health impacts observed to date small, the committee’s chairman told Reuters. The committee also found follow-up examinations of the handful of workers treated for elevated radiation exposure were also positive. The agency will issue a preliminary report in May, and a final draft will be sent to the U.N. General Assembly in 2013.

8.5 tons of water leaks at unit 4

On Tuesday afternoon, a plant worker found water leaking in the reactor building of unit 4 from a pipe that may have frozen. TEPCO reported the 8.5 metric tons of water estimated to have escaped was confined to a drain within the building, and that the water’s radioactivity was low. Much smaller leaks at other points around the plant’s makeshift water treatment systems were also reported last week.

Stress tests meet IAEA approval

In an assessment Tuesday, the International Atomic Energy Agency said the stress tests of Japanese reactors conducted in response to the crisis met the agency’s safety standards. Only three of the country’s 54 reactors are currently operating, as plants taken offline following the accident have faced political opposition to restarting. The government has ordered computer modeling to test reactors’ preparedness for extreme accident scenarios. The U.N. gave its tentative endorsement of those tests, while also making recommendations that included more detailed study of risks from earthquakes and tsunamis.

Blog Post: Extensive Wear Found in Recently Replaced SONGS Steam Generator

Nuclear Street News — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:33:00 GMT

Just two years after it was replaced, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has reported significant wear in a steam generator at California’s San Onofre Nuclear Plant.

Earlier in the week, San Onofre unit 3 was taken out of service because of a leaking steam generator tube that resulted in a small release of radioactive steam into an auxiliary building. On Thursday initial reports from NRC inspectors also outlined wear in similar equipment at neighboring unit 2. During a scheduled outage for maintenance and inspections, the NRC found the thickness of two tubes in one of unit 2's two steam generators had been worn away by a third. Of 9,700 tubes in the steam generator, 69 were found to be at least 20 percent worn, and 800 tubes were at least 10 percent worn.

An NRC spokesman told the Associated Press that accelerated wear in the early years of a steam generator’s life is not unprecedented, and inspectors will conduct further tests.

Southern California Edison replaced all four steam generators at SONGS for a reported cost of $671 million, with installation at unit 2 in 2009 followed by installation at unit 3 last year. They were supplied by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

Both units are roughly 1,100 megawatt Combustion Engineering pressurized water reactors first licensed in 1982, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Blog Post: China Expected to Restart Reactor Construction Approvals Later This Year

Nuclear Street News — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:30:00 GMT

Approvals for new nuclear plants in China are likely to resume later this year, according to an expert from a group affiliated with the government.

With more than two dozen reactors under construction, China was by far the world leader in new nuclear build when it suspended licensing for new plants in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi accidents. Construction was delayed on six new projects approved before the Japanese earthquake and plant blackouts, China Daily reported.

The newspaper, whose views closely reflect those of the ruling communist party, quoted Xiao Xinjian of the national Energy Research Institute as saying work on those projects is likely to resume in the second half of this year. Approvals for new plants will likely continue at a pace of three or four per year, which represents slower growth than before the government responded to Fukushima and began rewriting its regulations.

Despite recent delays, the world’s first Westinghouse AP1000 reactor at Sanmen remains on track to be operational in 2013, an official from the State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation told China Daily.

Blog Post: Executives Touch on Vermont Yankee, Indian Point as Entergy Reports Earnings

Nuclear Street News — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:31:00 GMT

Entergy filed a motion Tuesday asking state power regulators to approve continued operation of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant following a recent court decision favorable to its relicensing.

In a conference call on the company’s fourth quarter earnings, Entergy CEO J. Wayne Leonard said the state’s next step is unknown, and it has until Feb. 21 to appeal the decision. In it, a judge ruled that Vermont laws compelling the closure of the plant after its original federal license expires this year infringed on the federal government’s authority to regulate nuclear safety. For its part, Leonard said Entergy is confident that the lower court’s ruling will stick. The company is looking at ways to recover attorney’s fees from the state, and Leonard highlighted language in the judge’s decision saying there was no evidence that Entergy acted in bad faith in its dealings in Vermont.

Leonard also anticipated a long legal process for the license extension at the Indian Point plant in New York. Legal challenges to the plant’s operations are working their way through state water quality authorities, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Litigation before the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation began in October, and hearings before the ASLB are expected to begin in the third quarter of this year. If litigation drags on past the end of the original licenses in 2013 and 2015, Leonard emphasized the plant can continue to operate under NRC rules until the matter is resolved, which might be well into the license extension period the company is seeking in the first place.

At the company’s other nuclear plants, executives noted Exelon’s fleet recorded a 93 percent capacity factor in 2011, including two scheduled refueling outages. A 178-megawatt uprate scheduled for this spring will make the currently 1,300 megawatt GE-6 reactor at Grand Gulf the largest single-unit plant in the country.

Blog Post: SNC-Lavalin Nuclear Awarded Contract for Reactor Containment Filtered Venting Systems (CFVS)

Nuclear Street News — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:10:00 GMT

Canadian engineering firm SNC-Lavalin announced that SNC-Lavalin Nuclear has signed a contract with Societatea Nationala "Nuclearelectrica" (SNN) to install reactor containment filtered venting systems (CFVS) at the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant in Romania. The value of the contract is approximately $48 million.

"The units at the Cernavoda plant are rated among the best in Europe and this project is part of an industry-wide upgrade strategy for nuclear plant safety in the event of serious accidents or natural disasters, such as those that occurred at Fukushima in Japan, " said Patrick Lamarre, Executive Vice-President, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. "This contract with SNN leverages SNC-Lavalin Nuclear's expertise in nuclear power plant retrofits and in executing projects with challenging logistics. It also provides a platform for SNC-Lavalin Nuclear to build on its 45 years of experience as opportunities grow in the European nuclear market."

Engineering and procurement activities are underway and construction is scheduled to begin immediately, with preparations for the work to be carried out in the next unit outages. The expected completion date is late 2013.

Blog Post: SONGS Unit 3 Enters Forced Outage for Steam Generator Issue

Nuclear Street News — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:47:00 GMT

Southern California Edison (SCE), operator of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), took steps yesterday for a precautionary shutdown of Unit 3. Sensors that detect possible leaks indicated a leak in one of the unit's steam generator tubes.

The potential issue poses no imminent danger to the public or plant workers. There has been no release to the atmosphere. San Onofre personnel will evaluate the cause of the leak and the steps required to repair it and resume operations.

Unit 2 is currently offline for a planned maintenance, refueling and technology upgrade outage. Southern California Edison said they have ample reserve power to meet customer needs while Unit 3 is offline.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission was immediately informed of this development.

Blog Post: Exelon Traces Power Outage at Byron Nuclear Plant to Switchyard Insulator

Nuclear Street News — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:36:00 GMT

An electrical insulator in a switchyard may be to blame for a power outage and reactor trip at the Byron nuclear plant Monday.

Unit 2 at the Illinois plant shut down from full power just after 11 a.m. when external power to the reactor was cut. Smoke was seen coming from a faulted station auxiliary transformer but no fire was reported, according to an event report from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Backup diesel power started, and natural circulation cooldown ensued, assisted by auxiliary feedwater pumps and atmospheric steam releases.

According to a statement from the company, the reactor is in stable condition, with neighboring unit 1 continuing to operate normally. Nonetheless, the power failure prompted plant owner Exelon to declared an unusual event, the lowest of the NRC’s emergency declarations. The steam vented into the atmosphere, while not from the primary coolant loop that passes through the core, contained tritium at levels Exelon said do not pose a risk to public health.

Company officials were quoted as saying they had traced the source of the external power failure to a specific insulator at a switchyard. Byron is located near Rockford, Ill., north of Chicago and uses two Westinghouse pressurized water reactors built in 1980s that produce more than 1,100 megawatts each.

Blog Post: Nuclear Industry Receives New Earthquake Data for Central and Eastern U.S.

Nuclear Street News — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:39:00 GMT

The majority of American nuclear plants will draw from a new and extensively revised dataset detailing the earthquake risk across much of the U.S. And although the research began in 2008, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the Central and Eastern United States Seismic Source Characterization Project will inform decisions about plants’ seismic risks under safety changes ordered following the earthquake-triggered Fukushima Daiichi accidents in Japan.

The seismic data project took nearly four years to complete and updated studies used for earthquake preparedness since the late 1980s. The peer-reviewed research draws from historical earthquake and geological data dating as far back as 1568. It cost about $7 million to complete, with funding from the Electric Power Research Institute, the Department of Energy and the NRC.

Seismic studies have long been part of the licensing process for nuclear facilities, although the new and more extensive data may confront some plant owners with earthquake risks higher than previously thought. According to an NRC release announcing the study Tuesday, “Calculations with the new model are expected to result in a higher likelihood of a given ground motion compared to calculations done using previous models.”

Plant owners will still weigh other factors like plant design and safety features in assessing the overall risk specific to their sites as they begin to implement the NRC’s post-Fukushima task force recommendations. Five DOE nuclear facilities and 96 commercial power reactors reside in the region studied. The research reported the largest predicted ground motions could occur in the vicinity of “repeated large magnitude earthquake sources, such as New Madrid, Mo., and Charleston, S.C. Other RLME sources are Charlevoix (lower St. Lawrence), Cheraw Fault (High Plains in southeastern Colorado), Meers Fault (southwestern Oklahoma), Reelfoot Rift – Marianna (Marianna, Ark., 75 km southwest of Memphis, Tenn.), Reelfoot Rift – Commerce Fault Zone (Tamms, Ill. to Qulin, Mo.,) and Wabash Valley (Indiana and Illinois).”

Blog Post: As It Pitches AP1000 for New Temelin Reactors, Westinghouse Signs MOU With Metrostav

Nuclear Street News — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:30:00 GMT

In its efforts to build new reactors in the Czech Republic, Westinghouse has announced a memorandum of understanding with Metrostav a.s. to help construct two AP1000 units at the Temelin nuclear plant.

Metrostav—a Czech construction firm that counts power plants and Prague subway projects among its portfolio—would assume key construction and project management responsibilities for Temelin units 3 and 4 under the exclusive deal. The firm also will work with Westinghouse on its Temelin bid to Czech utility CEZ.

“As we prepare to submit a formal proposal to CEZ this year for completion of the Temelin Nuclear Power Plant, it can clearly be seen that we are taking a series of important steps to make sure we have key elements of our delivery team and our supply chain in place to ensure that the project will be a success,” Westinghouse regional president Yves Brachet said in a release.

Westinghouse has previously won contracts to provide digital instrumentation and control, as well as fuel, to the existing two units at Temelin, according to the World Nuclear Association. In 2008 CEZ decided to add units at the plant, with a formal bid solicitation for two complete reactors and a nine-year fuel supply announced in October. In addition to the AP1000 reactor by Westinghouse and its partners, CEZ has discussed designs from Areva and a consortium made up of Skoda JS, Atomstroyexport and OKB Gidropress.