POWER March 2017 - 12

3. Nuclear milestone. America's first-ever AP1000 steam generator (the brown cylinder
at center) was lifted into place at the V.C. Summer nuclear power plant this January. The steam
generator, including the integral reactor coolant pump casings, weighs more than 600 metric
tons and is about 24 meters (m) tall and 6 m in diameter. Courtesy: SCE&G
Westinghouse will now embark on reactor
coolant loop piping installation.
Westinghouse in December placed the
second containment vessel ring at Vogtle
3. Other recent milestones at the Vogtle
site included placement of the Unit 3
reactor vessel on November 23 and the
Unit 4 CA01 structural module on November
21.
The milestones are notable for the two
help it save $190 billon, the strategy
says. Meanwhile, the nation will invest
$163 billion to meet growing demand
and secure economic growth.
The nation is on track to begin operating
the Middle East's first nuclear
power unit at the Barakah Nuclear Energy
Plant by May (Figure 2). On January 7,
the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp. said
that completion of the full project-four
APR1400 reactors whose construction
began in 2012-is slated for 2020. The
project is being built by a consortium led
by the Korea Electric Power Corp. Unit
1 is more than 93% complete, Unit 2 is
81% complete, Unit 3 is 67% complete,
and Unit 4 is 38% complete, it said. The
state-owned entity is now focusing on recruiting,
training, and mobilizing nuclear
energy professionals for the estimated
2,500 personnel positions it will need to
fill to safely operate the plant by 2020.
New Construction
Milestones for AP1000
Units
Construction of four AP1000 units-the
first new nuclear reactors in the U.S. in
decades-is moving along at Vogtle 3
and 4 in Georgia and at the V.C. Summer
nuclear power plant in South Carolina.
In January, Westinghouse, which is
spearheading construction of the units,
marked a key milestone as it placed the
12
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POWER | March 2017
first steam generator at V.C. Summer Unit
2.
The steam generator, supplied by
South Korean firm Doosan, is a major
component for the plant's steam-supply
system (Figure 3). According to Westinghouse,
AP1000 plant steam generators
are based on a proven design with
multiple enhancements, including antivibration
bars and a primary-side channel
head that provides easy access for robotic
tooling to improve plant performance
and maintenance. With its placement,
projects, which have suffered delays and
cost overruns. Construction at Vogtle began
in 2013. Vogtle 3 is now scheduled
to start operations in 2019, while Vogtle
4 is expected to be operational in 2020.
Construction kicked off at V.C. Summer in
2013, too. Unit 2 is expected to enter
operations in 2019, and Unit 3 in 2020.
Westinghouse's construction of four
AP1000 reactors in China, two each at
Sanmen in Zhejiang province and Haiyang
in Shandong, are reportedly nearing
completion, though they too have
been beset by delays ranging from three
to four years, mostly owing to design
changes. While construction kicked off at
Sanmen Unit 1 in April 2009, and in September
2009 at Haiyang, all four reactors
are slated to be operational by the end
of this year.
In January, the China National Nuclear
Corp. reported that installation of the
fourth and final
reactor coolant pump
had been completed at Sanmen 2, marking
a milestone toward the start of cold
commissioning tests. Three weeks later,
the China Nuclear Engineering Corp. announced
that coolant pumps from the
U.S. had reached the construction site at
Haiyang.
4. Ivory tower. Siemens' 8-MW offshore wind turbine prototype installed at a test center
in Østerild, Denmark, will be used for both mechanical and electrical testing until type certification
next year. Courtesy: Siemens

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POWER March 2017

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