Westinghouse Electric Company today welcomed the UK Government's announcements recognizing nuclear energy's continuing role in supplying safe, clean, reliable and affordable energy, and the need for public consultation to ensure a full and legitimate expression of views.

Upon the announcements to proceed with the design acceptance and public comment processes in parallel, Westinghouse submitted the Westinghouse AP1000TM pressurized water reactor (PWR) for UK design acceptance to the Nuclear Directorate of the UK's Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

"We commend the UK Government on its forward-looking approach to using nuclear energy to help supply safe, clean and affordable electricity," said Daniel S. Lipman, senior vice president, Westinghouse Nuclear Power Plants.  "The public consultation process and design acceptance are vital pre-requisites for any nuclear reactor design to be built in the UK and to move forward with the worldwide nuclear renaissance.  We are pleased to submit the standardized AP1000 design for design acceptance."

The AP1000 is the only Generation III+ design to receive Design Certification from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and has become the preferred technology by U.S. utilities, being chosen for no less than 10 new reactor license applications to the U.S. NRC.  Additionally, China recently chose the AP1000 for four new power plant units, and the European Utility Requirements (EUR) Committee certified the AP1000 as having successfully passed all the steps of analysis for compliance with European Utility Requirements, confirming that the AP1000 can be successfully deployed in Europe.  Entry into the UK market by Westinghouse has the support of UK utilities, including E.ON.

With approximately half of the world's nuclear reactors based on Westinghouse PWR technology, the AP1000 is based on the same established technology but with the improvement of passive safety systems that rely on gravity and natural circulation to effectively shut down the reactor in the highly unlikely event of an accident.  Additionally, simplification is a key feature throughout the AP1000 design, making it more compact and less complex, easier to operate and maintain relative to plants in operation today, and competitive with other electricity generating sources.  The Westinghouse AP1000 is an ideal choice for a fleet of new reactors in the UK and best suited for the worldwide nuclear power marketplace.

For more information about the Westinghouse AP1000, visit http://www.westinghousenuclear.com/AP1000/index.shtm.  

Westinghouse Electric Company, a group company of Toshiba Corporation, is the world's pioneering nuclear power company, supplying the world's first commercial nuclear reactor at Shippingport, Pennsylvania, in 1957.  Since then, Westinghouse has become a leading supplier of nuclear plant products and technologies to utilities throughout the world.