Westinghouse Signs Memorandum of Understanding with Vítkovice

December 1, 2011

Jan Světlík, Vítkovice a.s. Chairman of the Board of Directors, signs the agreement with Westinghouse.

Westinghouse Electric Company signed an important Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Czech company Vítkovice a.s. on December 1 in preparation for the potential construction of Westinghouse AP1000® nuclear power plants in the Czech Republic.

According to the agreement, Westinghouse intends to procure important components from Vítkovice if their AP1000 reactor is selected for the completion of the Temelín Nuclear Power Plant.  Such equipment includes vital steelwork for the containment vessel, various sub-assemblies for structural and mechanical modules, and major components of the reactor circuit.

The agreement was signed at the Prague Residence of the U.S. Ambassador by Westinghouse’s President for the Europe, Middle East & Africa region, Yves Brachet and Vítkovice a.s. Chairman of the Board of Directors Jan Světlík, who is also the President of the Czech Machinery Cluster. Joseph Pennington, Chargé d’Affaires of the American Embassy, was present at the signing.

See photos of the signing ceremony

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Mr Brachet said: “I am delighted to be able to sign this important agreement today. Westinghouse has a policy that “We Buy Where We Build” and this announcement demonstrates how seriously we take that approach – even when it has been explicitly stated by the Czech Government and our potential customer, CEZ, that localization is not something they will be considering in the bid evaluation process."

This MOU follows on from the recently-signed MOU with another major Czech company, I&C Energo, and marks a further important milestone in Westinghouse’s continuing activities to develop and subsequently deliver a valuable proposal to CEZ, for the construction of the AP1000 nuclear power plant at the Temelin site in the South Bohemian region of the country. 

Under the MOU, Westinghouse and Vítkovice will also work together to identify opportunities for members of the Cluster to become qualified suppliers to Westinghouse. 

Westinghouse Electric Company, a group company of Toshiba Corporation (TKY:6502), is the world's pioneering nuclear energy company and is a leading supplier of nuclear plant products and technologies to utilities throughout the world.  Westinghouse supplied the world’s first PWR in 1957 in Shippingport, Pa.  Today, Westinghouse technology is the basis for approximately one-half of the world's operating nuclear plants.

The Westinghouse AP1000 reactor is close to final design certification by nuclear regulators in the United States, and is one of two designs currently being considered for potential new nuclear construction in Britain.  Contracts have been placed around the world for a total of ten AP1000 plants to date – 4 in China and 6 in the US.  All four Chinese plants are under construction and remain on schedule, with the first plant, at Sanmen in China, on track to produce electricity in 2013.