A Phase 1 review of the AP1000 involved an overall assessment of the reactor design against the most recent CNSC design requirements for new nuclear power plants in Canada
- By Stephen Heiser -
The Westinghouse AP1000 pressurized water reactor has completed Phase 1 of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) Pre-Project Design Review.
The objective of a Pre-Project Design review is to verify, at a high level, the acceptability of a nuclear reactor design with respect to Canadian safety requirements and criteria, including the identification of fundamental barriers to licensing a new reactor design in Canada. The review is conducted in two phases.
A Phase 1 review of the AP1000 involved an overall assessment of the reactor design against the most recent CNSC design requirements for new nuclear power plants in Canada.
"Westinghouse is pleased to receive this Phase 1 report and views it as an important preliminary step in bringing the AP1000™( )to Canada," said Ric Perez, senior vice president, Westinghouse Nuclear Power Plants. "Canada is very familiar with the benefits of clean, safe and reliable nuclear power and Westinghouse is anxious to work within Canada's existing nuclear infrastructure to extend those benefits well into the 21st-century."
Westinghouse believes the AP1000™ is ideally suited for Canada and the worldwide nuclear power marketplace. The AP1000 is:
• Based on standard Westinghouse pressurized water reactor (PWR) technology that has achieved more than 2,500 reactor years of highly successful operation
• An 1100MWe design that is ideal for providing baseload generating capacity
• Modular in design, promoting ready standardization and high construction quality
• Economical to construct and maintain (less concrete and steel and fewer components and systems mean there is less to install, inspect and maintain)
• Designed to promote ease of operation (features most advanced instrumentation and control (I&C) in the industry)
Currently, four AP1000 units are being built in China, two at Sanmen and two at Haiyang, and there are discussions on plans for more AP1000™ plants to be sited inland of China's coastal areas. For more information about the Westinghouse AP1000, visit its Web site at www.ap1000.westinghousenuclear.com.
Westinghouse Electric Company, a group company of Toshiba Corporation (TKY:6502), is the world's pioneering nuclear power company and is a leading supplier of nuclear plant products and technologies to utilities throughout the world. Westinghouse supplied the world's first PWR in 1957 in Shippingport, Pa. Today, Westinghouse technology is the basis for approximately one-half of the world's operating nuclear plants, including 60 percent of those in the United States.