Westinghouse to Submit DCD Rev. 19 for AP1000® to NRC

PITTSBURGH, June 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Westinghouse Electric Company announced that it is submitting today Revision 19 of the AP1000^® Design Control Document (DCD) to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).  The revision includes necessary changes to address NRC comments raised during the confirmatory review of prior updates submitted in DCD Revision 18.

The submittal of DCD Rev. 19, along with updated shield building and containment vessel technical reports being provided to the NRC separately, provides resolution of all known NRC open confirmatory items associated with the pending Final Safety Evaluation Report needed for final rule making.  Additionally, the changes incorporated into DCD Rev. 19 are clarifications and minor corrections, which have no safety significance.  

“We are pleased to submit to the NRC Revision 19 of the AP1000 DCD,” said Dr. Aris Candris, president and CEO of Westinghouse Electric Company.  “It’s been a long and comprehensive journey to amend the already-certified design and to again prove that the AP1000 and its passive safety features will provide even higher levels of safety and greater confidence in nuclear energy.  

“The AP1000 has undergone an extremely intensive series of tests and reviews by the NRC, the independent advisory committee on reactor safeguards, university experts and numerous independent third parties.  The AP1000 is very likely the most closely scrutinized nuclear energy plant in history.  I’m hopeful that we’re nearing the end of the licensing process and the beginning of new construction that will put thousands to work in well-paying jobs here in the United States.”

Each new plant will create approximately 2,000 to 3,000 onsite jobs and hundreds of support jobs during construction.  The positive impact on America’s manufacturing and construction industries is significant, with materials and labor expected to be provided from more than 20 states.  New or expanded American manufacturing centers geared to support these projects have opened recently in Louisiana, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, New Hampshire and Minnesota.

Recognizing the importance of ensuring the quality and correctness of the DCD, Westinghouse has performed systematic assessments of current AP1000 design finalization activities and applicable open items in the Westinghouse Corrective Action database to provide assurance that there would be no material impact on the DCD or the NRC safety evaluation.  

Additionally, the AP1000 Design Center Working Group (DCWG) performed an independent audit and assessment of Westinghouse in-process design activities, corrective action items, and finalized calculation documents to provide additional assurances.  The DCWG oversight did not identify any issue that would prevent issuance of DCD Rev. 19.  Based on the results from these oversight and assessment activities, Westinghouse believes that Revision 19 of the AP1000 Design Control Document is ready for docketing in support of final rulemaking.

For more information about the AP1000 pressurized water reactor, visit its website at www.ap1000.westinghousenuclear.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