Westinghouse Electric Company has announced that it has contracted with Vitkovice Power Engineering a.s., a member of the Czech Vitkovice Machinery Group, to construct a mock-up of one of the AP1000 nuclear power plant's critical modules in preparation for the potential construction of Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear power plants in the Czech Republic.

This important and significant demonstration project will have Vitkovice Power Engineering manufacturing sub-module 05, a cutaway section of the larger CA-20 module. The structural module CA-20 of the AP1000 nuclear power plant is comprised of 72 sub-modules, weighs approximately 900 metric tons, and contains the area that will be used to house spent fuel. The sub-module mock-up is expected to be completed in early 2014.

This purchase agreement follows a recent (January 2013) amendment to an existing Memorandum of Understanding with Vitkovice a.s., Vitkovice Heavy Machinery a.s., Vitkovice Power Engineering and Hutni montaze a.s. Under the terms of the agreement, these prominent Czech companies joined the Temelin AP1000 team to jointly offer as potential fabricators of key structural and mechanical equipment modules, should the AP1000 reactor be selected to complete the expansion of the Temelin Nuclear Power Plant.

"This demonstration project marks a further important milestone in Westinghouse's ongoing activities to develop local partners and deliver a highly competitive tender to CEZ for the construction of two AP1000 reactors at the Temelin site," said Danny Roderick, Westinghouse president and CEO.

"The potential scope of supply represents a very significant percentage of the total plant construction and would uniquely position these companies for similar work in other AP1000 construction projects in Europe."

Chairman of the Vitkovice Board of Directors and President of the Czech Machinery Cluster Jan Svetlik said, "We are pleased that Westinghouse considers Vitkovice Machinery Group to be an experienced and reliable partner. By this way, we are also meeting our own strategy to be at center stage of the development of nuclear energy worldwide. We believe cooperation with Westinghouse will ultimately allow us to reach this strategic goal."

The demonstration project will allow Vitkovice Power Engineering to familiarize itself with Westinghouse technical and quality requirements. Westinghouse adheres to internationally recognized codes and standards, such as American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Vitkovice Power Engineering will additionally benefit by applying these standards globally, beyond the nuclear industry.

The AP1000 nuclear power plant has been designed to make use of modern modular-construction techniques, which allows many more construction activities to proceed in parallel. This reduces the calendar time for plant construction, thereby reducing the cost of money and the exposure risks associated with plant financing. These construction techniques are already being utilized with great success in the U.S. and China, where eight AP1000 units are currently under construction.