Westinghouse Electric Company today announces that it has signed a teaming agreement with Studsvik AB to offer jointly a full range of decommissioning services for nuclear power plants in Europe under the separate brand name of ndcon, Nuclear Decommissioning Consortium by Studsvik and Westinghouse. Services will include dismantling, decontamination and waste handling, initially in Germany and Sweden.
“Westinghouse has planned and executed D&D services in Spain, Sweden, Germany and other countries, each having different regulatory regimes and reactor designs,” said Yves Brachet, president, Westinghouse Europe, Middle East & Africa. “This teaming agreement with Studsvik will bring together an excellent combination of decommissioning and dismantling skills and services, as well as a wealth of experience that will ultimately contribute to our customer’s success.”
Anders Jackson, president and chief executive officer, Studsvik AB, said of the agreement, “Studsvik holds already today a strong position in Europe, with a broad range of services for the whole life cycle of nuclear power plants and other nuclear operations. By establishing this close cooperation with world-leading Westinghouse, we complement Studsvik’s areas of competence with all of the services that are necessary to offer turnkey contracts in connection with the decommissioning of nuclear power plants.”
The first commercial nuclear power plants in Europe were commissioned 50 years ago and many of these units are now approaching their designed operating life. Additionally, political decisions have shortened the expected operation of nuclear power plants in Germany, where 17 nuclear reactors are planning to be phased out by 2022; eight were shut down in March 2011. For these reasons, a significant number of nuclear power plants across Europe will need to be decommissioned and dismantled in the next 15 to 20 years.