Westinghouse submits AP1000 reactor Design Certification Amendment application to US NRC

Westinghouse Electric Company has submitted the Design Certification Amendment application to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for its AP1000 reactor design. 

Additionally, the NRC has issued its Advanced Final Safety Evaluation on the design, concluding that the AP1000 meets all regulatory requirements, said Westinghouse in a statement.

Upon receipt of the favourable NRC safety evaluation, the independent Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) began its final review of the AP1000 design. Westinghouse is confident that its AP1000 design will meet ACRS requirements, it said. 

Submittal of the amendment application and receiving favourable safety evaluations from the NRC and ACRS are key steps in the rule-making process, which is complete with the granting of Design Certification, expected in late 2011, followed by AP1000 customers being granted a Combined Construction and Operating License (COL) from the NRC.  

“Submission of the design amendment application, showing full compliance with the new requirements mandated by the NRC following our original certification, marks a monumental milestone for the AP1000 PWR, the nuclear renaissance and the energy industry,” said Dr. Aris Candris, President and CEO of Westinghouse Electric Company. 

“Once approved, construction of the first new nuclear plants in the United States should begin in a timely manner with the first plants coming online, as originally expected, in the 2016 timeframe.”