One of the world leaders in the field of nuclear energy - the American-Japanese company Westinghouse Electric - has declared itself bankrupt. According to experts, the loss of technical competencies led to the bankruptcy of the company - the United States abandoned the construction of nuclear power plants for decades. At the same time, nuclear scientists supply reactors not only for energy, but also for aircraft carriers and submarines of the US Navy, and the White House is extremely concerned about the fate of Westinghouse.
How did it happen?
Over the past decades, Westinghouse Electric has been increasing its presence in the world markets, becoming a serious competitor to Rosatom. As one of the world leaders in the field of nuclear energy, Westinghouse has often used the political environment for its own purposes. A typical example is Westinghouse's expansion in Ukraine since 2014.
Having reoriented the country's nuclear power plants to American fuel, Kiev hoped to gradually withdraw from cooperation with the Russian "Rosatom". To diversify purchases, the Ukrainian authorities have agreed with Westinghouse on the supply of nuclear fuel for Ukrainian nuclear power plants. As Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in June 2017, Kiev will continue to increase the share of American fuel for nuclear power plants.
“How many percent did we receive nuclear fuel three years ago when I was elected president? one hundred%. How much did you get in 2016? Already 55%. How much have I set the task, Mr. Minister, to receive already in 2017? There will be 45%. And we will receive the rest from our other partners, including the American Westinghouse,”the Ukrainian leader said.
This partnership from the very beginning caused serious concern of experts: the problem is that American fuel cells are loaded as part of diversification into Russian-made VVER-1000 and VVER-440 reactors, which do not coincide in configuration. According to experts, this is fraught with disastrous consequences.
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However, for the sake of political considerations, the Ukrainian authorities ignored the threat of a nuclear catastrophe. As the director of the energy and security center Anton Khlopkov previously explained to RT, Westinghouse fuel has not yet proven its reliability, and in addition, it costs about 20% more than other samples.
At the same time, there have already been negative examples of cooperation with Westinghouse: in 2007, Prague terminated the contract with the company for the supply of fuel cells after malfunctions at the Temelin NPP, built according to the Soviet design.
In addition, Westinghouse Electric plans to build new nuclear power plants not only in Ukraine, but also in other countries, for example, in India and China. These projects are now in limbo, as is the fate of Westinghouse Electric itself. Japan's Toshiba, which bought Westinghouse Electric for $ 5.4 billion in 2006, is scrapping the projects of its American subsidiary.
For example, a preliminary agreement on the construction of a nuclear power plant in the Indian province of Andhra Pradesh is in jeopardy. The bankruptcy of the American subsidiary does not allow Toshiba to give Delhi an exact answer about the future of the project.
In the opinion of Nuclear.ru editor-in-chief Ilya Platonov, the company will try to maintain its position in the nuclear fuel market, but will no longer be able to build a nuclear power plant on its own.
“It was an American company that started the bankruptcy procedure, this does not apply to the business of supplying nuclear fuel and maintaining operating nuclear power plants. In this market, the company will try to maintain its image. As for the new stations, Westinghouse has already announced that it will not participate in projects as a general contractor, they no longer want to get involved in construction, the expert noted in an interview with RT.
Forgotten experience
On March 29, 2017, Westinghouse Electric filed bankruptcy filings with the court. At the end of last year, the company suffered colossal losses, and the issue of its reorganization is currently being resolved. Westinghouse Electric has failed to meet the obligations to build four power units in the United States. In particular, over the past months, the owners of two power units under construction at the Vogtle NPP (Georgia) had to hastily look for new general contractors. As a result, the terms of commissioning of facilities have shifted. In June it became known that the work at the Vogtle nuclear power plant will be carried out by another American company - Southern Co. - for $ 3.68 billion
The problems of Westinghouse Electric have been accumulating for more than one year and are primarily associated with serious technical miscalculations and systematic delays in the construction time of power units of two nuclear power plants in the United States.
Recall that in 2005, the new generation AP1000 reactor, developed by the company's engineers, received a certificate from the US nuclear regulatory agency - Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). But it soon turned out that the officials had certified a rather crude project that required significant improvements.
In 2006, the NRC withdrew its decision and demanded that the reactor's shielding be strengthened so that the steel and concrete shell could withstand the crash of a large airliner. The coordination of technical improvements took several years.
The AP1000 project was criticized in 2010 by the American engineer John Ma, a permanent member of the US atomic commission. In his opinion, the projected protection AP1000 will not withstand seismic loads and will crack at the first earthquake. These remarks were especially relevant after the tragedy at the Japanese nuclear power plant "Fukushima-1" in 2011.
Another serious problem was revealed as a result of the incident at the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station (Davis – Besse Nuclear Power Station, Ohio. - RT). In 2010, serious corrosion formed on the reactor cover, the operation of the power unit had to be stopped in an emergency mode. Alloy I-600, which was widely used in the American nuclear power industry, was found to be the cause of the problem. After that, Westinghouse had to redesign the AP1000 reactor, looking for a replacement for the unreliable alloy.
Of course, such significant technological improvements have led to significant delays in the construction of the NPP. This resulted in multibillion-dollar losses for Westinghouse and led to the bankruptcy of the company.
“The reason for the bankruptcy is that the company, being the general contractor of four nuclear power units in the United States, actually failed to fulfill its obligations, there was a very serious delay in terms of time, resulting in cost overruns. There were a lot of technical issues - atomic units began to be built in the United States after a very long hiatus, about 30 years. At that time, in many countries, perhaps with the exception of China and Russia, nuclear power plants were not built. In many ways, skills and competencies were lost, the supply chains that existed at one time were destroyed,”Ilya Platonov, Nuclear.ru editor-in-chief, explained in an interview with RT.
White House alarm
Bankruptcy of Westinghouse Electric Co. caused serious concern in the White House. Now Washington is looking for an optimal solution to the problem together with Tokyo, because we are talking about a potential threat to national security. The authorities fear that Westinghouse Electric will end up in the hands of China or Russia, the Financial Times reported, citing sources in the White House. According to the newspaper, in order to preserve the company in the American or Japanese jurisdiction, the authorities are ready to provide it with financial support.
“This question is much broader than just the desire to make sure Westinghouse Electric remains a stable American company. This is a very important security issue for America and its allies,”said US Secretary of Energy Richard Perry.
The concern of the White House is explained by the reasons not only for the economic, but also for the defense plan, because it is Westinghouse Electric that supplies technology for the US nuclear submarine fleet. The company's importance for the US defense complex, on the one hand, allows it to count on the support of the country's authorities, but on the other hand, it noticeably narrows the circle of potential investors.
“Westinghouse was the only supplier of reactors for American aircraft carriers and submarines, and Washington will never let this technology go to foreigners - this is a matter of national security. The company will be kept in the hands of the Americans or their military allies at any cost. Washington will not allow Westinghouse to go into "outside" hands, "Mikhail Rylov, director of the Center for Nuclear and Radiation Safety (RES-center), said in an interview with RT.
The expert believes that Westinghouse will lose the international nuclear power plant market, yielding positions to competitors. In addition to France and Russia, nuclear energy has been vigorously developing in South Korea in recent years - Seoul is actively promoting its projects in the nuclear industry, Rylov added.
The main challenge for Westinghouse today is to find new buyers. However, this will not be easy, experts say.
“There is no clarity with possible buyers for Westinghouse. China may want to acquire the company even in this state, but the US authorities will not allow this. And another potential investor, the South Korean company KEPCO, has not yet shown interest in this deal. For Rosatom, as well as other major players, the situation has a dual meaning. On the one hand, the weakening of competitors always plays into the hands, especially since the French company AREVA - another competitor of Rosatom - is also experiencing problems now. But on the other hand, the bankruptcy of Westinghouse casts a shadow on the entire nuclear power industry, despite the fact that the industry is not in a very definite state anyway, summed up Ilya Platonov.
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… I read that Toshiba, which bought Westinghouse Electric in 2006, is hastily getting rid of it. She abandoned work on the home, professional equipment, computers, which was good at the time, out of fright she bought the assets of Westinghouse Electric, and now all this is hanging with them. The Koreans practically squeezed them out of the world market for radio-video equipment, as did Sony. This is how the attempts to cover everything end.
… Westinghouse is a white elephant. Toshiba did not buy it herself, the chief ruler sold this white elephant to her, and it is not customary to refuse such purchases. Someone had to buy something, and Toshiba has long been engaged in nuclear projects on small things. So they were presented.
American-style nuclear power plant construction
At the end of 2011, the combined construction and operation license was obtained, the NRC recognized Project 19 as successful, and a team of US atomic stars entered the Vogtle NPP construction site. The enthusiastic spectators, however, did not throw their caps into the air for a long time. The pits were dug successfully, no doubt, and then it was time to place the reinforcement field and pour concrete. In April 2012, the atomic supervision suddenly broke away from contemplating the 3D picture and came to the site … In the official act - not a single swear word, but anyone familiar with construction matters is able to imagine what words were "translated" into the phrase:
"Not properly installed fittings have significant deviations from the design documentation"
The details were not disclosed with reference to trade secrets, but by God, the reason was probably that the details were too obscene. Three months - three months, Karl! - this is um … highly skilled craftsmen put fittings on a new one. Deadlines, fines, damages - Westinghouse paid and paid.
With the rebar, outstanding professionals in all respects managed, in December 2012 it was time to deliver the equipment to the construction site. No sooner said than done, a reactor vessel weighing 330 tons sailed from South Korea to the port of Savannah, Georgia in January. Then it was necessary to reload it onto a railway platform, which they did. And - set off.
A reactor vessel on a railway platform, Photo: southern.railfan.net
Drive almost a mile, Karl! In one day - and almost a mile! “The Little Engine That Could” - we had such a song in childhood, but there is still no rock ballad or rap symphony about “The Big Locomotive That Failed”, which is strange. Well, well, it was official there … Oh, here:
"The platform on which the body was attached became misaligned in relation to the transporter car."
Unclear? Well, then let's move on to the harsh atomic slang from Nuclear Intelligence Weekly on January 15, 2013:
“During the transportation, the platform with the reactor was strongly skewed and tilted sideways, almost reaching the ground. It happened immediately after the train started moving."
Intentional tilt, Photo: ogaugerr.com
As in such cases, drunk participants in an accident say as a lord - "No, nuacho, she herself." I wonder if Westinghouse employees were sober when they gave out such pearls when trying to explain what happened:
"The hull was tilted on purpose while trying to level the platform?"
No, the fact that the body was tilted is noticeable, actually. But why?! It’s good that there were no casualties. Well, they found sober loaders, reloaded them, returned them to the port. They did not inspect at the port at all, representatives of the manufacturer were not called. Why? So it is clear - there was a second attempt to deliver the cargo to the place and who could guess - it will work out or not … If another 3-4 razik had crashed, then they would have examined why hurry ahead of time. Here is a photo from the port - the building is somehow covered with rags, not guarded, waiting for the continuation of bullying.
A rag-covered reactor vessel for the Vogtle nuclear power plant, Photo: wp.com
The railroad workers looked at the piece of iron, thoughtfully scratching their heads. “Should we take him or should he? Let's crash again ….
In February, a 160-tonne reactor lid arrived from Korea - it was delivered to the construction site the first time. "Should I drive or not?" - the railway workers continued to think, rustling the sheets of the Augusta Cronicle newspaper and looking through a small message like this:
“158 workers failed to pass drug and alcohol tests at the Vogtle NPP construction site in 2012.”
Hey, who's trying to scream at our builders? Not about those hard workers filmed "Our Russia", oh, not about those …
In the summer of 2013, foremen at the site began to figure out the work schedule in two shifts - it was no longer possible to catch up with the deadlines in another way. Out of the bushes, non-axial railroad workers, not always neatly stepping over the bodies of tired workers, looked out from the cabins of design engineers, thick smoke from cigarettes poured out of the cabins of the design engineers - the construction atomic supervision noticed problems in the design documentation, which had to be redone right on the go … New subcontractors went into battle, the searchlights shone at night - the picture of the shock construction of the American atomic project was epic. On the second attempt, the reactor vessel was pushed to the site, additional checks of its integrity went on for about a year - only after that the atomic supervision agreed that everything was in order.
In general, there is still a lot of interesting things …