First Westinghouse AP1000 Nuclear Plant Sanmen 1 Completes Initial Criticality

Westinghouse Electric Company, China State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC) has announced that the world’s first AP1000 nuclear power plant located in Sanmen, Zhejiang Province, China has successfully completed initial criticality.

“Today we completed the final major milestone before commercial operation for Westinghouse’s AP1000 nuclear power plant technology,” said José Emeterio Gutiérrez, Westinghouse president and chief executive officer. “We are one step closer to delivering the world’s first AP1000 plant to our customer and the world – with our customers, we will provide our customers in China with safe, reliable and clean energy from Sanmen 1.”

Following initial criticality will be connection to the electrical grid. Once plant operations begin at Sanmen 1, it will be the first AP1000 nuclear power plant in operation, offering innovative passive safety system technology, multiple layers of defense and advanced controls for unequaled reliability and safety.

Commenting on Westinghouse’s strong partnership with the China customer, Gavin Liu, president – Asia Region stated, “Westinghouse’s success in China is the joint effort between Westinghouse and our China customers.” He added, “This partnership and cooperation model can help to deploy a fleet of AP1000 units in the world for many years to come.”

Westinghouse currently has six AP1000 nuclear power plants progressing through construction, testing and start-up. These projects include two units in Sanmen, Zhejiang Province, China, two units in Haiyang, Shandong Province, China, as well as two units under construction at the Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant near Waynesboro, Georgia, USA.