IHI completes steam generator plant
Japanese heavy machinery maker IHI Corp has completed construction of a new facility in Yokohama for the manufacture of steam generators for pressurized water reactors.Japanese heavy machinery maker IHI Corp has completed construction of a new facility in Yokohama for the manufacture of steam generators for pressurized water reactors (PWRs).
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| The new Yokohama steam generator plant (Image: IHI) |
An inauguration ceremony for the new facility - covering an area of some 3000 square-metres - was held on 5 September. It is expected to begin operations in October 2011, having started construction a year ago.
The plant has been built adjacent to a port and has special cranes so that steam generators built there can be directly loaded from the plant onto ships for transportation.
Steam generators are used as part of the cooling system in PWR plants and is where the primary coolant bringing heat from the reactor is used to make steam for the turbine. Reactors may have up to four "loops", each with a steam generator.
IHI said that technical development for steam generator manufacture will be completed in the next financial year (ending March 2013) after producing mock-ups and confirming the suitability of various new manufacturing techniques. The company hopes to then launch full-scale production of the steam generators.
The company produces boiling water reactor (BWR) pressure vessels and containment vessels, and since acquiring a 3% stake in reactor vendor Westinghouse in 2006, IHI has begun to manufacture equipment for PWR plants. It also makes boilers and gas turbines, as well as oil and gas plant components. In February 2009, IHI received an order from Westinghouse for two AP1000 reactor containment vessels for a US plant. IHI began shipping those components in 2010.
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News
