AP1000
Further development of the 4-loop reactor and the ice-condenser containment initially led to the AP600 concept, with a smaller 600 to 700 MWe output, but this saw limited interest.
The first AP1000 began operations in China at Sanmen, where Unit 1 became the first AP1000 to achieve criticality in June 2018,[2] and was connected to the grid the next month.
ABB Group bought Combustion Engineering in 1990[5] and introduced the System 80+, with a number of design changes and safety improvements.
[15][16][17] On March 24, 2017, Toshiba announced that Westinghouse Electric Company will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy because of US$9 billion of losses from nuclear reactor construction projects, which may impact the future of the AP1000.
[22] Aged used fuel may also be stored in above-ground dry cask storage, in the same manner as the currently operating fleet of US power reactors.
When the passive cooling system is activated, the water flows by gravity to the top of the reactor where it evaporates to remove heat.
[10][24] The design is intended to passively remove heat for 72 hours, after which its gravity drain water tank must be topped up for as long as cooling is required.
These groups appealed to three federal agencies to suspend the licensing process because they believed containment in the new design is weaker than existing reactors.
[31] In April 2010, Arnold Gundersen, a nuclear engineer commissioned by several anti-nuclear groups, released a report which explored a hazard associated with the possible rusting through of the containment structure steel liner.
[32] If the dome rusted through the design would expel radioactive contaminants and the plant "could deliver a dose of radiation to the public that is 10 times higher than the N.R.C.
Vaughn Gilbert, a spokesman for Westinghouse, has disputed Gundersen's assessment, stating that the AP1000's steel containment vessel is three-and-a-half to five times thicker than the liners used in current designs, and that corrosion would be readily apparent during routine inspection.
[33] In 2009, the NRC made a safety change related to the events of September 11, ruling that all plants be designed to withstand the direct hit from a plane.
In it Ma argues that some parts of the steel skin are so brittle that the "impact energy" from a plane strike or storm driven projectile could shatter the wall.
A team of engineering experts hired by Westinghouse disagreed...[33] In 2010, following Ma's initial concerns, the NRC questioned the durability of the AP1000 reactor's original shield building in the face of severe external events such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and airplane collisions.
In contrast to the NRC's decision, Ma believed that the computer codes used to analyze the modified design were not precise enough and some of the materials used were too brittle.
The chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said that: computations submitted by Westinghouse about the building's design appeared to be wrong and "had led to more questions.
[37] In November 2011, Arnold Gundersen published a further report on behalf of the AP1000 Oversight Group, which includes Friends of the Earth and Mothers against Tennessee River Radiation.
The report highlighted six areas of major concern and unreviewed safety questions requiring immediate technical review by the NRC.
The report concluded that certification of the AP1000 should be delayed until the original and current "unanswered safety questions" raised by the AP1000 Oversight Group are resolved.
[45] In December 2009, a Chinese joint venture was set up to build an initial CAP1400 near the HTR-PM at Shidao Bay Nuclear Power Plant.
[56] In 2014, China First Heavy Industries manufactured the first domestically produced AP1000 reactor pressure vessel, for the second AP1000 unit of Sanmen Nuclear Power Station.
[57] The first four AP1000s to be built are to an earlier revision of the design without a strengthened containment structure to provide improved protection against an aircraft crash.
[62] In October 2015 it was announced that technology for the İğneada Nuclear Power Plant in Turkey will come from US based firm Westinghouse Electric Company in the form of two AP1000 and two Chinese CAP1400.
[63] In 2016, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of the Republic of Turkey, Berat Albayrak, inspected the AP 1000 Shangdong Haiyang Nuclear Power Plant, which belongs to the China National State Nuclear Technology Corporation (SNPTC), a subsidiary of the China State Electricity Investment Corporation (SPIC).
[64] The project was abandoned in July 2017, 4 years after it began, due to Westinghouse's recent bankruptcy, major cost overruns, significant delays, and other issues.
On April 9, 2008, Georgia Power Company reached a contract agreement with Westinghouse and Shaw for two AP1000 reactors to be built at Vogtle.
[70] On February 16, 2010, President Obama announced $8.33 billion in federal loan guarantees to construct the two AP1000 units at the Vogtle plant.
[77] In October 2013, US energy secretary Ernest Moniz announced that China was to supply components to the US nuclear power plants under construction as part of a bilateral co-operation agreement between the two countries.
[90] Westinghouse's parent company Toshiba decided in 2017 to withdraw from the construction of nuclear power plants, following financial difficulties, leaving the proposed agreement in doubt.
[92][93] In December 2013, Toshiba, through its Westinghouse subsidiary, purchased a 60% share of NuGeneration, with the intention of building three AP1000s at Moorside near the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing site in Cumbria, England, with a target first operation date of 2024.
