After years of digestion and absorption, China has mastered the AP1000 technology. “We don’t worry about the Westinghouse’s absence.†A senior person from a domestic nuclear power company stated
Lin Chunting
As the world’s leading nuclear power generator and a world-class nuclear power giant, Westinghouse (hereinafter referred to as “Westinghouseâ€) has been applying for bankruptcy protection for 130 years.
On March 29th, local time, Westinghouse, a subsidiary of Japan’s Toshiba Corporation, filed a bankruptcy reorganization application with the Bankruptcy Court of New York in accordance with Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Law of the United States. Not only that, the analysis believes that overburdened Toshiba also faces the risk of delisting from the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Late on the 29th, Beijing time, China National Power Investment Corporation (hereinafter referred to as "National Power Investment") and Westinghouse executives held an emergency telephone conference. After research, both parties agreed that Westinghouse's application for bankruptcy and reorganization will not affect the promotion and completion of the Chinese AP1000 project.
The national nuclear power technology company (hereinafter referred to as “National Nuclear Powerâ€) under the National Power Investment Corporation is the main entity for the autonomous implementation of AP1000. The AP1000 is considered to be the world's most advanced third-generation nuclear power technology. In 2006, China decided to introduce AP1000 from Westinghouse as the main technology for future domestic development. At present, the country has started construction of four AP1000-based projects.
“We are not worried that Westinghouse is not in place.†A veteran of a domestic nuclear power company told China Business News that Westinghouse’s bankruptcy will have little impact on China’s nuclear power projects.
The First Financial reporter learned from a number of authoritative sources that after years of digestion and absorption, China has mastered the AP1000 technology.
Westinghouse has passed its peak
Westinghouse was founded by George Westinghouse in 1886 under his own name in Pennsylvania, and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Westinghouse is the inventor of air brakes for trains. This inventor who dreamed of changing the world took the lead in introducing high-voltage alternating current into the US transmission system, thus breaking Edison's invention of direct current power.
Westinghouse was officially involved in nuclear energy in 1955. This year, Westinghouse provided the S2W marine reactor for the United States' first nuclear-powered submarine, the Nautilus. With the rise of nuclear power in the United States, Westinghouse's business is getting bigger and bigger, fame and fortune.
According to the Westinghouse official data, Westinghouse was responsible for the construction of 48 of the 105 U.S. nuclear power plants in operation before the U.S. Sanrishima nuclear accident in 1979, and built 31 overseas. Westinghouse also teamed up with foreign companies to design another 81 nuclear power plants through a licensing agreement. In the mid-1970s, the number of Westinghouse staff and sales reached historic highs.
After the Sanri Island nuclear accident, the panic American people set off a wave of anti-nuclear forces, coupled with the extremely high cost of nuclear power construction and other reasons, the United States stopped the pace of building new nuclear power projects.
Since 1994, Westinghouse has continued to sell its core business units. In 1999, the electrical sector (nuclear energy sector) sold to British Nuclear Fuel Co., Ltd. Westinghouse sold at a price of 1.2 billion U.S. dollars.
In 2006, British Nuclear Fuel Co., Ltd. sold Westinghouse to Toshiba for US$5.4 billion, which resulted in a 77% stake in Westinghouse.
Toshiba, founded by the electric lighting business, was founded in 1904 and is currently the largest nuclear power plant builder in Japan. Toshiba bought Westinghouse at the time because it was optimistic about the development prospects of the global nuclear power industry and intended to take the opportunity to become a giant in the field of nuclear power construction.
The Toshiba deal was twice as expensive as other Japanese nuclear power companies bidding for Westinghouse. What is more strange is that a few years later, Toshiba, who was obsessed with nuclear power, continued to spend US$1.6 billion to increase Westinghouse’s shareholding to 87%.
Danger is approaching Toshiba step by step. Buying Westinghouse with a price of 7 billion U.S. dollars (about 48.2 billion U.S. dollars) is the main reason why Toshiba is in trouble today.
The Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan in March 2011 changed everything. After the accident, plans to build nuclear power plants in many countries were disrupted and stopped. Whether it is Turkey or Vietnam, whether Japanese companies including Toshiba can take orders is still unknown.
Judging from the current signs, Toshiba already dreams of nuclear power. Toshiba stated on December 27, 2016 that it may conduct multi-billion-dollar asset writedowns on the energy sector, mainly due to the acquisition of US nuclear power business by its nuclear power company Westinghouse. The loss may be as high as 700 billion yen (about 6.1 billion U.S. dollars), which is higher than the estimated 500 billion yen that Toshiba announced to investors.
In order to bail out, Toshiba announced on February 24 that it plans to split one of its most profitable businesses, the storage semiconductor business, into an independent company, and Toshiba expressed its willingness to sell most of its shares.
"Toshiba wants a strong man to break his wrist and hopes to use it to save the nuclear power business from the damage it caused." An insider close to Westinghouse told the First Financial reporter.
The domestic industry once questioned Westinghouse
The AP1000 Reliance Project is the largest cooperation project in the energy field between China and the United States.
The first financial reporter learned that as of now, Westinghouse AP1000 technology transfer work has been basically completed. In addition, Westinghouse has provided more than 45,000 hours of technical consulting services to the national nuclear power. Next, Westinghouse will continue to provide consulting services in the fields of fuel manufacturing and design, operation and maintenance services.
However, as the AP1000 support project in China, Zhejiang Sanmen and Shandong Haiyang started construction in 2009, the project progress is not smooth. Among them, the Sanmen 1 unit, which was originally scheduled to be built in 2013, has been delayed for nearly 4 years. The reason is that the difficulties in the individual key technologies of this unit have yet to be resolved.
“The AP1000 is a new technology, and the Sanmen 1 unit is the first project of the AP1000 in the world. In the construction process, it is inevitable that this or that kind of difficulty will be encountered.†A person familiar with AP1000 and Sanmen 1 The nuclear power expert of the unit told CBN.
Affected by the delay of Sanmen 1 unit, other nuclear power projects that planned to use the AP1000 were blocked. Under such circumstances, the domestic industry’s doubts about Westinghouse continue to emerge. “Because the Sanmen 1 unit has not been connected to the grid for a long time, the construction of the CAP1400 demonstration project has also been affected.†A person with nuclear power told the First Financial reporter. CAP1400 is China's third-generation nuclear power technology developed on the basis of AP1000 and has China's independent property rights.
“National nuclear power and Westinghouse have been working hard.†An informed source close to the national nuclear power told the First Financial reporter. At present, the CAP1400 demonstration project in Shandong Rongcheng has been approved by the National Development and Reform Commission to carry out preliminary work.
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