Cranberry Township, PA – Westinghouse Electric Company has announced the acquisition of ABB’s AC160N control platform, which serves as the background technology for its U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)-approved Common Q™ safety systems platform. This acquisition marks a key investment into the company’s instrumentation and control (I&C) portfolio to broaden its support of nuclear utilities’ long-term operational strategies.
Developed specifically for Westinghouse, the AC160N technology is designed to operate in demanding nuclear environments to produce significant processing power in a small footprint. The acquisition preserves the licensing pedigree of Common Q for the more than 40 nuclear plants who currently utilize the technology and enhances plants’ security of supply for spare parts and software support services.
“Safety system upgrades are more critical than ever as utilities seek to preserve the life of their plants in order to produce even more affordable, carbon-free energy,” said Patrick Fragman, Westinghouse President and CEO. “This acquisition represents a strategic investment into the long-term operations and enhanced performance of the global operating fleet. It also gives Westinghouse the full control of the technology regarding its use and evolutions.”
Westinghouse’s Common Q safety-grade I&C platform provides utilities with significant operations and maintenance savings through reduced or eliminated surveillances and the high availability and reliability of the AC160N technology. The versatile platform can be installed in nearly any plant design and also seamlessly integrates into existing plant systems to reduce implementation cost and schedule. Common Q is currently installed in twelve U.S. operating plants and eighteen operating plants outside of the U.S., including the four AP1000® units in China and the APR1400 units in Korea and the UAE.
“For decades our Common Q solution has proven to be a stable and reliable platform that is trusted by both operating and new nuclear plants,” Patrick continued. “Key milestones such as this will secure the future availability and support of one of the largest safety-related installed bases in the world.”
Westinghouse has received regulatory approval from the NRC to transition the ownership of AC160N via a Safety Evaluation Report (SER).
For additional information about Westinghouse’s Common Q safety systems platform solutions, visit https://www.westinghousenuclear.com/CommonQ.
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