Image via WikipediaWritten on Monday, July 19, 2010 by Dan
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Global sourcing meets demand from growing number of new reactor projects
It is one thing to say you are going to build a new 1,000 MW nuclear reactor. It is entirely another to get the parts for one. For starters there is the reactor pressure vessel itself which can only come from one place – Japan Steel Works. Want one? Get line because there is a backlog that puts a new order placed today on schedule for delivery in 2013 or later.
That may change as large forges are developed in South Korea, India, and the U.K. If you select an Areva reactor, your pressure vessel will come still from Japan Steel Works, but other components will come from the Creusot Forge in France.
There are no plans in the U.S. to develop a large forge capable of handling 400 ton pressure vessels, but there are efforts underway to make everything else. Areva and Northrop Grumman are building a $300 million factory in Newport News, VA. The Shaw Group is building a similar scale facility in Lake Charles, LA.
The output from the two U.S. factories will supply reactor components, including pipes, pumps, and steam systems to build Areva EPRs and Westinghouse AP1000s. Early construction projects which will get their parts from these plants include Constellation's Calvert Cliffs III project in Maryland (Areva EPR), Southern's Vogtle plant (twin AP1000s), and Southern's V.C. Summer station (twin AP1000s).
GE-Hitachi is going overseas inking a deal with several Indian heavy industry firms to build a reactor components factory. The firm's launch with its Indian partners is expected to supply components that will be used to build the reactors the company hopes to sell to the Nuclear Power Corporation India Ltd. (NPCIL), a public sector enterprise under India's Department of Atomic Energy. Taking advantage of India's lower labor costs, the consortium also hopes to gain market share with exports to global markets.
Initially, it will supply parts for two new 1,520 MW ESBWR reactors to be located in either Gujarat or Andra Pradesh. Of the two, Gujarat is the more likely site for co-location of the factory and construction of the two GE-Hitachi reactors. If liability legislation clears the Indian parliament this year, the reactor project could break ground by 2012.
Reviving the U.S. manufacturing base
According to the IAEA, construction of nuclear reactors peaked worldwide about 1980. Until recently, it's been a downhill slide. Almost all of the U.S. new nuclear plant manufacturing base disappeared along with tens of thousands of jobs and the skills that came with them.
Key elements of the supply chain for the new build in the U.S. will include steam generators, pressurizers, coolant pumps and motors, control rod drive mechanisms, digital instruments and controls, and the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle. Balance of plant will require steam turbines, generators, as well as electric grid transmission and distribution infrastructure.
The development of the capability to build these components is initially taking place in two large factory complexes being built by Areva and the Shaw Group. However, the original equipment manufacturing supply chain for parts and subassemblies is getting larger. The American Nuclear Society Buyers Guide for April 2010 listed over 900 firms with more than two dozen taking half page and full page ads in the thick issue.
Areva launches at Newport News
A year ago this week AREVA and Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, a sector of Northrop Grumman Corporation joined forces to build a new nuclear manufacturing and engineering facility in Newport News, Va. The joint venture will manufacture heavy components for the U.S. EPR, AREVA's Generation III+ nuclear reactor.
The 300,000 square-foot facility represents an investment of more than $360 million and will bring more than 500 jobs to Virginia. AREVA Newport News will be the first full-scale manufacturing facility dedicated to supply heavy components, such as reactor vessels, steam generators and pressurizers to the U.S. nuclear energy industry.
These components will supply the first new U.S. nuclear power plants to be built in 35 years. Industry experts have viewed limited production of heavy components positioned against rising demand as a constraint on nuclear energy's expansion. Not anymore. The plant is expected to start operations in 2013.
Shaw builds new factory in Louisiana
The Shaw Group, which holds a 20% equity stake in Westinghouse, is in the midst of ramping up operations at a Lake Charles, LA, site to manufacture structural components, pipes and related reactor equipment to build the firm's 1,150 MW AP1000 reactors. The 600,000 square foot facility will support the modular construction of a fleet of U.S. reactors. It is expected to employ 1,500 workers once it reaches full operation. It began operations in late 2009.
Like Areva's Virginia plant, the Shaw facility is located at the nexus of major transportation systems including the capability to deliver huge nuclear components to customers via deep water access using barges.
Shaw is building a similar factory in China to support Westinghouse which has contracts to build four new nuclear reactors in that country. Lessons learned in China will reap benefits for U.S. plants which will break ground in the next decade.
Some components for Westinghouse reactors will come from South Korea's Doosan Heavy Industries. In June 2008 the firm signed a contract to supply nearly $200 million in major nuclear equipment components for two AP1000s to be built at Scana's V.C. Summer station in South Carolina.
GE-Hitachi seeks opening with India's new build
Last February GE-Hitachi announced it planned to acquire special steel components and large forged parts from Larsen & Toubro (L&T). The Hindu also reported that L&T is also in a joint venture with NPCIL to set up a nuclear components manufacturing center in Gujarat. L&T plans to build a capability to produce ingots weighing up to 600 tons and a heavy forge shop with a world class press rivaling the one at Japan Steel Works. That competition won't come on line right away, but it will come.
GE-Hitachi executives said the deal not only helps India, but also provides export earnings. Indian companies reportedly can make nuclear components for as little as half the price of sourcing them from the U.S. Jack Fuller, CEO, told the Hindu Feb 2, "It can be part of our supply chain for India and other markets."
A month after the L&T agreement was announced, GE-Hitachi inked an agreement March 23 with India's Bharat Heavy Electrical and NPCIL to build multiple GE-designed reactors to meet the country's goals for carbon emission free electrical power. The focus of the agreement is GE-Hitachi's 1,350 MW ABWR reactor.
India plans to boost its use of nuclear energy to generate electricity from the current 4 GWe to 60GWe by 2032. It is one of the world's most aggressive new builds after China. The work scope is estimated to be worth $175 billion.
In December 2009 India inked a deal with Russia to build four new reactors. However, the Russians have their own component manufacturing capabilities and aren't, at this time, offering any deals to locally source reactor parts with Indian companies.
India's parliament still has not approved measures setting limits on accident liabilities and insurance for regulatory or other delays that would prevent a reactor from entering revenue service. Stiff opposition continues from left wing parties who are critical of the limits in the bill. In May 2010 Science Minister Prithviraj Chavan introduced the latest round of legislation with an overall cap of $450 million per accident.
http://www.coolhandnuke.com/Cool-Hand-Blog.aspx?ArticleType=ArticleView&ArticleID=44http://www.coolhandnuke.com/Cool-Hand-Blog.aspx?ArticleType=ArticleView&ArticleID=44
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