Westinghouse Electric Company
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This article is part of the Nuclear Spin project of Spinwatch. |
Westinghouse Electric Company is a US nuclear reactor builder and provides fuel, services, technology, plant design, and equipment for the commercial nuclear electric power industry. It is operated by its majority owner, Toshiba.
In October 2013, Westinghouse was in the final stages of negotiations to buy a more than 50 percent stake in NuGeneration, a major project to build a nuclear reactor at Sellafield, for £64 million. [1]
Contents
Background
Westinghouse was originally acquired by British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) in March 1999. [2] In 2000 BNFL also bought the commercial nuclear power businesses of ABB Group and merged them into Westinghouse.
BNFL sold Westinghouse in October 2006 to Toshiba and its partners The Shaw Group and IHI.[3] Toshiba later sold 10 percent of its interest to Kazatamprom, a company based in Kazakhastan. In September 2011 Toshiba bought out the Shaw Group's 20 per cent stake in Westinghouse and now controls 87 per cent of the firm. [4]
In 2012 it employed almost 14,000 people worldwide.[5]
Nearly half of all nuclear power plants operating globally, and nearly 60 percent in the United States, are based on Westinghouse technology. In 2006 Westinghouse’s AP1000 became the first Generation III+ pressurised water reactor to receive Design Certification from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.[6]
Westinghouse in the UK
Westinghouse controls Britain's only nuclear fuel manufacturing site, Springfield Fuels. [7]
In July 2007 Westinghouse submitted its AP1000 pressurised water reactor design to the UK’s nuclear regulators (the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and the Environment Agency) for assessment under their Generic Design Assessment process (GDA). This assessment was originally due to be completed by June 2011. [8]
In July 2011 the ONR and Environment Agency said that they expected to issue interim design acceptance confirmations (iDAC), and interim statements on design acceptability (iSODA) for the AP1000 design and the EPR by the end of the year. A list of GDA Issues would identify outstanding matters that need to be addressed before the regulators will provide a Design Acceptance Confirmation (for ONR) or Statement of Design Acceptability (Environment Agency). Westinghouse then decided to request a pause in the GDA process because it had yet to find a customer in the UK for its AP1000 reactor. [9] Westinghouse had been hoping for an order for AP1000 reactors from Horizon, but the decision by E.ON and RWE to sell Horizon will have been a blow to Westinghouse's hopes. [10]
However Westinghouse's AP1000 reactor has been winning and bidding for new orders elsewhere in the US, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
PR and lobbying
Westinghouse has stepped up its communication activities following the Fukushima disaster in Japan. According to the company's head of EMEA Stakeholder Relations, Adrian Bull:
- "The industry has come a long way in improving its communication in recent years, but we all recognise the need for building even stronger relationships with our multiple stakeholders after the Fukushima incident and as the pace of new build quickens.
- ...The events in Japan sharpened our focus on communicating two important messages: Firstly the high levels of safety in current operating stations across the world, and secondly the major technical advances which are embodied in the very latest reactor designs. Older designs are safe – but newer ones will be safer still.”
PR and lobbying companies
- In 2010 Westinghouse was listed as a client of lobbying firm Gardant Communications. [11]
- In 2008, Westinghouse was listed as a past or current client of The Gorlin Group.[12]
People
- Mike Tynan, Vice President & Managing Director, Westinghouse - attended Nuclear Development Forum on 27 October 2011 [13]
Affiliations
- NIA Programme Management Board
- World Nuclear Association
- Member of Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform (SNETP), one of at least 36 so-called technology platforms which are industry-led and which were set up to define research priorities and action plans in a number of areas to boost EU growth, competitiveness and sustainability. Corporate Europe Observatory calls it a highly influential lobby vehicle for the nuclear industry. [14]
External resources
- SourceWatch page Westinghouse Electric Company
References
- ↑ Lucy Alexander in Tokyo, Toshiba Group nears deal on Sellafield reactor, The Times, October 7 2013 12.01am BST
- ↑ Timeline 1980-1999, Westinghouse website, accessed 29 August 2012.
- ↑ Toshiba completes Westinghouse acquisition, Westinghouse Press Release 17 October 2006, accessed 29 August 2012.
- ↑ The Associated Press, Shaw Group to sell its stake in Westinghouse, 6 September 6, 2011, accessed 9 September 2012.
- ↑ Vision and Values, Westinghouse website, accessed 29 August 2012.
- ↑ Timeline 2000-2007, Westinghouse website, accessed 29 August 2012.
- ↑ Springfields Fuels Limited Westinghouse website, accessed 29 August 2012.
- ↑ AP1000 application website, accessed 29 August 2009.
- ↑ Nuclear Power in the United Kingdom, World Nuclear Association Country Briefing July 2012, accessed 29 August 2012.
- ↑ Horizon up for sale as utilities drop plan to develop nuclear power, Professional Engineering, 29th March 2012, accessed 29 August 2012.
- ↑ APPC Register Entry for 1 September 2010 to 30 November 2010
- ↑ The Gorlin Group Clients, accessed 20 March, 2008.
- ↑ Department of Energy and Climate Change, Nuclear Development Forum 27 October 2011, 12noon – 2pm List of Attendees
- ↑ Corporate Europe Observatory, 'Nuclear Contamination: A year after Fukushima, why does Brussels still back nuclear power?, March 2012. Members include Areva, EDF, Endesa, Enel, EOn, RWE, Vattenfall, GDF Suez, General Electric, Westinghouse Electric UK, Fortum Oyi, Fennovoima, Alstom, EnBW and DCNS. Source: Transparency Register, consulted by CEO on 14/02/2012. http://europa.eu/transparency-register
