Westinghouse, Hochtief partner on decommissioning services

Friday, 27 March 2015

Westinghouse and German construction company Hochtief AG have teamed up to offer decommissioning, decontamination and remediation services for Germany's nuclear power plants.

Unit 1 of the Neckarwestheim plant among the eight German reactors to be shut in 2011 (Image: EnBW)

Westinghouse announced yesterday that it has signed a teaming agreement with two Hochtief subsidiaries - Hochtief Infrastructure GmbH and Hochtief Engineering GmbH - to offer German nuclear power companies a "one-stop supplier" for end-of-life services.

Westinghouse said it will bring its "safety-focused nuclear expertise" to the partnership, as well as its experience in decommissioning, decontamination, remediation, segmentation and waste handling. Hochtief, it said, would bring its know-how in licensing, civil engineering and construction of interim storage.

"This teaming agreement will bring together an excellent combination of safe, reliable and proven decommissioning, decontamination and remediation services, as well as a broad experience from the civil and construction sector that ultimately will contribute to our customers' success," said Westinghouse vice president and managing director for Central Europe Norbert Haspel.

The company noted that a number of German power reactors will need to be decommissioned in the next 15-20 years due to national policy decisions. In March 2011, Germany reacted to the accident at Fukushima Daiichi by ordering eight older reactors to close for a three month 'moratorium'. Acting on federal instructions, state environment agencies subsequently ordered that those reactors never restart. The country's 17 remaining reactors are all planned to be shut down by 2022.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News