Curtiss-Wright Flow Control - EMD and Westinghouse Continue Successful Testing of World's Largest Canned-Motor RCP

PITTSBURGH, May 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Curtiss-Wright Flow Control - EMD and Westinghouse Electric Company LLC announced today that they are continuing the successful testing of the world's largest canned-motor reactor coolant pump (RCP) at Curtiss-Wright Flow Control EMD's facility in Cheswick, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pa., the birthplace and currently a major hub of the commercial nuclear power industry.

During testing on Thursday, May 13, the AP1000™ pressurized water reactor RCP successfully completed testing in ambient operating conditions.  On Saturday, May 15, testing was successfully performed at normal operating temperatures and pressures.  All test objectives for both tests were met.  The tests were completed ahead of schedule, and witnessed by representatives of China's State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation and owners of the four AP1000™ PWR units currently being constructed in China. 

These tests are important steps in the final qualification process of the AP1000™ RCP.  Curtiss-Wright EMD and Westinghouse will complete final qualification testing of the RCP over the next 12 months.  This will ensure safe and reliable RCP operation in the world's first-ever built Westinghouse AP1000™ nuclear power plants under construction in China, and for future AP1000™ plants that will be built in the U.S.  The AP1000™ PWR is the only Generation III+ passive safety systems reactor certified by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

AP1000™ Pressurized Water Reactor Coolant Pump

Manufactured by Curtiss-Wright Flow Control - EMD for Westinghouse Electric Company, the AP1000™ RCPs are high-inertia pumps that are highly reliable, low-maintenance, hermetically sealed canned-motor pumps, which circulate the reactor coolant through the reactor core, loop piping, and steam generators.  Curtiss-Wright EMD, a business unit of the Curtiss-Wright Flow Control Company, is the world's premier designer/builder of reactor coolant pumps, having produced more than 350 pumps for the existing commercial nuclear reactor fleet and over 1200 for the U.S. Navy.  In the past 40 years, EMD has successfully developed eight canned RCPs for specific unique applications.  These pumps are highly reliable, with many running problem free for 30 years. 

Sixteen RCPs for China's first Generation III+ reactors will be built in the Western Pennsylvania plant, demonstrating how nuclear plant exports are driving high quality manufacturing in the U.S. The Curtiss-Wright EMD factory is one of over a dozen U.S.-based factories that will be directly involved in exporting products to the AP1000™ projects in China.  Excellent cooperation is ongoing with U.S. and China in the testing and manufacturing of additional reactor components for the China nuclear program.

About Curtiss-Wright Flow Control Company

Curtiss-Wright Flow Control Company specializes in the design and manufacture of highly engineered valves, pumps, motors, generators, electronics, systems and related products for the commercial nuclear power industry, oil and gas processing facilities and a range of critical military programs.  Its innovative, high-performance products play an integral role in our nation's defense and in the safe, efficient operation of power plants and other industrial sites worldwide. Based in Falls Church, VA, the company has more than 3,400 employees worldwide and is the Flow Control segment of Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE: CW).  For more information, visit: www.cwfc.com.

Westinghouse Electric Company LLC

With 15,000 employees worldwide, Westinghouse Electric Company LLC, a group company of Toshiba Corporation (TKY: 6502), is the world's pioneering nuclear energy company and is a leading supplier of nuclear plant products and technologies to utilities throughout the world.  Westinghouse employs more than 9,000 employees in the U.S., with over 4,000 currently involved in nuclear manufacturing activities through six states.  In 1957, Westinghouse supplied the world's first PWR in the Western Pennsylvania town of Shippingport.  Today, Westinghouse technology is the basis for approximately one-half of the world's operating nuclear plants, including 60 percent of those in the United States and 40 percent worldwide.

SOURCE Westinghouse Electric Company