Czech supply chain agreement for Westinghouse
Westinghouse has signed a memorandum of understanding with Czech engineering firm Vitkovice for the manufacture of key components for potential new AP1000 units in Czech Republic.Westinghouse has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Czech engineering firm Vitkovice for the manufacture of key components for potential new AP1000 units in Czech Republic.
The MoU was signed at the Prague residence of the US Ambassador on 1 December by Yves Brachet, Westinghouse's president for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, and Jan Svetlik, chairman of Vitkovice's board of directors and president of the Czech Machinery Cluster (CMC), an association of engineering companies to which Vitkovice belongs.
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| Westinghouse's Brachet signs the agreement, watched by Vitkovice's Svetlik (Image: US Embassy in Prague) |
Under the agreement, Westinghouse plans to procure many important components from Vitkovice if its AP1000 reactor is selected for the completion of the Temelin nuclear power plant. Such equipment, Westinghouse said, "includes vital steelwork for the containment vessel and shield building, various sub-assemblies for structural and mechanical modules, and major components of the reactor circuit."
Also under the MoU, Westinghouse and Vitkovice will work together to identify opportunities for other members of the CMC to become qualified suppliers to Westinghouse.
Westinghouse has submitted a tender bid to Czech utility CEZ to construct two AP1000 units at the Temelin plant, which already houses two Russian-supplied VVER reactors. Further bids have been placed by Russia's AtomStroyExport, in a consortium with Czech company Skoda JS and Russia's Gidropress, as well as France's Areva. The winner of the contract will be announced in late 2013.
Brachet commented: "Westinghouse has a policy that 'We Buy Where We Build' and this announcement demonstrates how seriously we take that approach - even when it has been explicitly stated by the Czech government and our potential customer, CEZ, that localization is not something they will be considering in the bid evaluation process."
Vitkovice has previously manufactured pressurizers and steam generators for the Temelin and Dukovany nuclear power plants in Czech Republic, as well as for plants in other countries, including Slovakia, Russia and India. Svetlik said, "I am very happy to be signing this memorandum, which opens up further opportunities to supply to nuclear energy companies, not only in the Czech Republic or Europe, but also beyond."
In August, Westinghouse signed an MoU with Czech engineering-supply company I&C Energo to cooperate in instrumentation and control systems for potential new AP1000 units in Czech Republic. That agreement also covered the associated testing and start-up services.
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News
