AM reduces production costs and lead time while achieving the highest industry safety standards
CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa., March 20, 2024 - Westinghouse Electric Company recently reached a significant milestone by manufacturing its 1,000th fuel flow plate using Additive Manufacturing (AM). It represents an industry achievement as the first ever safety-related AM components to enter serial production.
A fuel assembly component produced through additive manufacturing.
The AM flow plates are installed in VVER-440 fuel assemblies, enabling a redesign of the assemblies’ bottom part which results in a more robust performance.
“This achievement showcases the development of additive manufacturing from prototyping to full-scale production, generating tangible value for our customers,” said Lou Martínez Sancho, Westinghouse Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President, R&D and Innovation. “This marks another Westinghouse pioneering achievement in AM Technology holding the commitment to strengthen safety, efficiency, sustainability and energy security."
This milestone is a continuation of Westinghouse’s leadership in deploying AM in the nuclear industry to achieve cost and lead-time reductions and enable cutting-edge solutions for energy generation. In 2015, the company conducted the first ever material irradiation study of AM nuclear components. In 2020, Westinghouse installed the first ever safety-related AM component, a Thimble Plugging Device, into an operating commercial reactor.
