Posted on 08/10/2011 7:47:57 AM PDT by RS_Rider
Westinghouse Electric Co. said on Tuesday that regulators have affirmed the safety of its AP1000 nuclear reactor design, the last step toward receiving final approval, which the company expects by year-end.
The Cranberry-based company said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will release its final safety evaluation report later this week, which indicates the shield building around the reactor vessel could withstand the impact of an aircraft crash.
The structural-strength issue was raised about two years ago, leading Westinghouse to modify the design. The NRC granted initial certification for the design in 2006.
"We're in the home stretch to receive final approval of the amended AP1000 design," CEO Aris Candris said in a statement. He called the review a "long and highly transparent process."
Spokesman Scott Burnell confirmed the NRC would issue the safety report this week and commissioners will take up final design certification "in the very near future."
"We're not at the end of the road just yet," he said.
The good news for the AP1000 reactor counters what NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko said in May that Westinghouse had failed to correctly model potential stresses on parts of the reactor, such as the combined forces that an earthquake and changing temperatures would have on the concrete-and-steel shield building.
At the time, NRC officials said Westinghouse incorrectly calculated possible stresses on portions of the plant, including a tank holding emergency cooling water and on equipment that protects against radioactive releases during an accident. Westinghouse submitted an update in June that it said addressed all the questions raised by regulators.
Read more: Westinghouse reactor design passes safety test - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_750711.html#ixzz1UdW09vIS
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
Considering that Westinghouse Electric is owned by Toshiba, I’d think some scrutiny would not go amiss.
The AP1000 was designed before Toshiba purchased Westinghouse.
I imagine a whole new wave of tsunami regulations to come.
Design already includes gravity fed cooling that works without any power.
No matter what they do, it won’t be good enough for some.
The main customer right now for nuclear is China where good enough is more than enough. There are no sane investors that would invest in a new nuclear project in America.
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