European utilities certify Westinghouse's AP1000
Westinghouse's AP1000, an 1100 MWe pressurized water reactor design, has received formal certification of compliance from the European Utility Requirements (EUR) organization.
Westinghouse's AP1000, an 1100 MWe pressurized water reactor design, has received formal certification of compliance from the European Utility Requirements (EUR) organization.
Although still requiring regulatory design approval in each country, EUR compliance indicates that the reactor design meets a list of requirements set by the utilities for the next generation of light water reactors (LWRs).
The AP1000 design met 99% of the more than 5000 requirements set by EUR. The European Passive Plant (EPP) group, initially formed by Westinghouse and led by European utilities and suppliers, is implementing a program to address the 1% of AP1000 non-compliances. This non-compliance is primarily in the areas of aircraft crash protection, 12- to 24-month operating flexibility, and minor features in the plant layout. The program is expected to be completed in the next 18 months.
In addition to being only 1% non-compliant, 8% of the requirements were identified as not accessible at this time. Not-accessible items include waste; decommissioning; other areas where site- and utility-specific input is required; and the evaluation of the design for extreme soil conditions.
The Westinghouse AP1000 is only the second reactor design so far to be certified by the EUR. AtomStroyExport's AES-92 advanced semi-passive VVER-1000 design was awarded a similar certificate in April. However, five other reactor designs have also been examined by EUR and found to be compliant.
The EUR effort was launched in December 1991 by several European utilities to produce a common set of utility requirements endorsed by major European utilities for the next generation of light water reactor nuclear power plants. It was modelled on the US Electric Power Research Institute's (EPRI's) Utility Requirements Document for advanced LWRs. Current members of EUR include British Energy, Electricite de France (EdF), Iberdrola of Spain, Rosenergoatom of Russia and Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO) of Finland.
Further information
WNA's Nuclear Power Reactors information paper