PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Westinghouse Electric Company successfully demonstrated that the Westinghouse Generation III SHIELD® Shutdown Seal performs to design specification to thermally activate and reduce reactor coolant pump (RCP) flow to less than one gallon per minute during station blackout conditions.
The Generation III SHIELD Shutdown Seal was removed from service at Beaver Valley Unit 2 for the static activation test after one fuel cycle, which began in spring 2014. First Energy Nuclear Operating Company, Pressurized Water Reactor Owners Group and U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission representatives witnessed the test at the Westinghouse Science and Technology Center in Churchill, Pa.
“This is great news for our customers and their plants,” said David Howell, senior vice president, Operating Plants Business for Westinghouse. “The Generation III SHIELD Shutdown Seal offers additional levels of safety and reliability that will be valued by the nuclear industry. It is incumbent upon Westinghouse to provide such products as part of our mission to assist plants in demonstrating that they are built to last and continue delivering clean, safe and reliable electricity from nuclear energy for the next 60 years and beyond.”
Westinghouse had made an industry commitment to complete this test and validate the company’s dedication to developing innovative and quality products that enhance plant reliability and safety. Installing the Generation III SHIELD Shutdown Seal simplifies our customers’ response to NRC FLEX requirements.
Westinghouse Electric Company, a group company of Toshiba Corporation (TKY:6502), is the world's pioneering nuclear energy company and is a leading supplier of nuclear plant products and technologies to utilities throughout the world. Westinghouse supplied the world's first pressurized water reactor in 1957 in Shippingport, Pa., U.S. Today, Westinghouse technology is the basis for approximately one-half of the world's operating nuclear plants.
