Engineering news
Heavy engineering company Sheffield Forgemasters International (SFIL) has secured new contracts to service South Korea’s latest generation of nuclear power plants.
SFIL has committed to an order valued at over $1 million with Westinghouse Newington, the specialised pump division of Westinghouse Electric Company (WEC), for components to support primary reactor pumps in South Korea’s Shin Kori 3 and 4 power stations.
SFIL will supply eight support skirt castings, which form an integral part of the structure at the heart of the reactor. The order builds on previous supply of similar components to the Shin Kori 1 and 2 reactors at the Kori plant, located close to South Korea’s largest sea port, Busan.
Shaun Gray, senior sales manager at SFIL’s engineering division, said: “The increase of contracts to the South Korean nuclear power programme is representative of our growing relationship with Westinghouse Electric Company.
“Forgemasters has previously manufactured components for the Shin Kori plant’s 1 and 2 OPR-1000 reactors, and the current contract for support skirts will supply the more recently constructed APR1400 3 and 4 reactors.
“We will deliver eight fully assembled support skirts, including final machining, subassembly and supply of bushes and pins, all of which meet American Society of Mechanical Engineers international standards for civil nuclear construction.
“This is an important order for us as South Korea has a very dynamic civil nuclear power agenda, with nuclear anticipated to supply 60% of the country’s electricity needs within 25 years.”
The Shin Kori 3 and 4 power plants, which form the latest stage of this investment programme, are scheduled to go into operation in 2013 and 2014 respectively, with a net capacity of 1,350MWe each.
Delivery of the Forgemasters castings is scheduled for May. The company’s previous contracts with WEC include the supply of a cast stainless steel pump casing for Westinghouse AP1000 reactors, currently being built as part of China’s nuclear power programme.
Westinghouse Newington is based in Newington, New Hampshire, and is contracted to Korean company Doosan Heavy Industries for supply to the Shin Kori power generation facility.