Saarschmiede Facility to Enable Production of Large Nuclear Reactor Pressure Vessels

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Saarschmiede GmbH (Völklingen, Germany) has commissioned a 12,000-ton capacity press at the company's Völklingen facilities. The press can handle ingots of up to 370 tons, at temperatures up to 1,280 degrees Celsius, large enough to make pressure-reactor vessels for all but the largest nuclear reactors.

According to Saarschmiede, the press is capable of handling all components of the AP1000 reactor produced by Westinghouse Electric Company (Monroeville, Pennsylvania), which is a member of Toshiba Corporation (TYO:6502) (Tokyo, Japan).

The AP1000 is a Generation III pressurized water reactor and was the first Generation III+ reactor to receive final design approval from the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (Rockville, Maryland).

Westinghouse has obtained some forgings for the four AP1000 reactors under construction in China, and another four proposed in the United States from Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Company (SEO:034020) (Gyeongsahngnam-Do, South Korea).

In June this year, a plan by Westinghouse to work with Sheffield Forgemasters Steel Limited (Sheffield, England) on a 15,000-ton capacity press failed when the U.K. government backed out of a planned $125 million strategic loan.

Saarschmiede is already heavily involved in the manufacturing of components for the nuclear power industry, such as generator and turbine shafts, and has recently been concentrating on producing piping systems for reactor systems. The company's steel mill can produce ingots of up to 330 tons.

The commissioning of the new press is another example of the growing pressure on the nuclear supply chain manufacturers to cope with the increased popularity of nuclear power as governments move away from carbon-based power generation.

Even the oil- and gas-rich countries in the Middle East are looking toward nuclear power generation to free up vast reserves of gas, currently used for power generation, for export purposes and for petrochemical production.

Qatar, which has the world's third-largest reserve of gas behind Russia and Iran, is also reportedly considering nuclear power as an option, as power consumption rises in the wake of a rapidly growing population and massive investments in infrastructure projects. In Qatar alone, power consumption has risen at an average rate of 10.5% per year over the past 10 years.

Despite nuclear accidents such as Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, nuclear power has regained popularity and, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (Vienna, Austria), nuclear power capacity is expected to double by 2030.

In the latest estimates issued in September this year, the IAEA estimates that nuclear power capacity will increase from the current global 376,000 MW, to between 546,000 and 803,000 MW by 2030. By 2050, the range of nuclear power capacity is forecast to lie between 590,000 and 1.42 million MW.

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