Global sourcing meets demand for 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 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 from the Creusot Forge in France.
There are no plans in the U.S. to develop a large forge capable of handling the 400 ton plus pressure vessels, but there are efforts underway to make everything else. Areva and Northrop Grumman are build a $300 million factory in Newport News, VA. The Shaw Group is building a similar scale facility in Lake Charles, LA.
GE-Hitachi'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 hopes to gain market share with exports to global markets.
Read the rest of the story exclusively at CookHandNuke, a nuclear energy jobs portal and a whole lot more.
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2 comments:
Actually, the Forge in Le Creusot can only produce forgings for heavy components like steam generators and pressurizers. The reactor vessel forgings still come from JSW.
Source: Toured the forge and adjacent machining facility. Impressive!
How about Russian reactors? They're not made in Japan, right?
I'm curious which company made the reactors before Japan Steel works became the source?
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