On March 29, Westinghouse marked another major milestone in the construction of a nuclear power plant in Shandong province.

The company announced that the containment vessel top head, or CVTH for short, for the nuclear island of Unit 1 at the Haiyang site was successfully set, bringing it one step closer to completing its China AP1000 reactor projects.

The CVTH weighs approximately 659 tons, and it was manufactured by Shandong Nuclear Power Equipment Manufacturing Company Ltd.

The setting of the CVTH for Haiyang Unit 1 is another significant step this year in Westinghouse's delivery of China's four AP1000 nuclear power plant units, following the successful placement of the CVTH at Sanmen Unit 1 on Jan 29. The achievement further demonstrates the company's commitment to the safe, high-quality and efficient delivery of its AP1000 plants worldwide, company executives said.

"This represents the solid progress that we continue to achieve at the site," said Deva Chari, Westinghouse senior vice-president for Nuclear Power Plant Project Delivery.

"Multiple pieces of critical equipment were required to be manufactured, tested and placed into the containment vessel before the setting of the CVTH could be accomplished."

Chari said the company vows to continue cooperating with its partners to bring the benefits of AP1000 plant technology to the citizens of China.

Westinghouse and CB&I signed landmark contracts with Chinese customers in 2007 to provide four AP1000 pressurized water reactors in China - two in Sanmen, Zhejiang province, and another pair in Haiyang.

China's Sanmen and Haiyang nuclear power plants are the world's first projects to use the Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear power reactor, a Generation Three Plus nuclear technology.

In addition to the projects in China, two AP1000 projects in the United States have also achieved notable milestones recently.

Foundations were laid at the two US projects, Vogtle Unit 3 and V.C. Summer Unit 2, earlier in March. These facilities are the first nuclear plants to have begun construction in the country in three decades.

zhuanti@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 04/03/2013 page15)