Krško, Slovenia, March 8, 2024 – Westinghouse Electric Company and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia recently welcomed more than 40 vendors to a Supplier Symposium in Krško. The event builds upon the decades long partnership between Westinghouse and the Slovenian nuclear industry to discuss new opportunities for AP1000® reactor and AP300TM small modular reactor projects in country and globally.
Elias Gedeon, Senior Vice President of Westinghouse Energy Systems Commercial Operations, spoke this week at the Slovenia Supplier Symposium.
Danijel Levičar, Slovenia’s State Secretary for the National Nuclear Programme, and Matej Skočir, Deputy Director General, Directorate for Industry, Entrepreneurship and Internationalization attended the event, in addition to leadership from Slovenia’s GEN Energija and representatives from the U.S. Embassy.
“The United States and Slovenia value our strong partnership on civil nuclear energy. We are proud to support Slovenia’s efforts to invest in a sustainable and secure energy future through world-class, advanced nuclear technology,” said Jamie L. Harpootlian, U.S. Ambassador to Slovenia.
“The Slovenian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is strongly committed and encouraged to involve as many domestic subcontractors as possible in the construction of NPP 2, who would be involved in the supply chains of design, engineering, logistics, supply, equipment installation and construction services. That is why events like today’s are very useful and a good basis for achieving our strategic energy goals,” said Vesna Nahtigal, general director of the Chamber of Commerce of Slovenia.
“For more than 50 years, Westinghouse has been a proud partner to support the production of clean, safe and reliable nuclear energy at Slovenia’s Krško Nuclear Power Plant, which is based on Westinghouse design,” said Elias Gedeon, Senior Vice President of Westinghouse Energy Systems Commercial Operations. “We are pleased to further engage the country’s experienced, local supply chain to deploy Westinghouse new reactor technologies in Slovenia and across Central and Eastern Europe.”
Westinghouse has already signed memorandums of understanding with key Slovenia suppliers for cooperation in potential AP1000 reactor projects in Central and Eastern Europe, focusing on engineering, construction and maintenance services, electrical equipment, and project planning and management services.
The AP1000 reactor is the only operating Generation III+ reactor with fully passive safety systems, modular construction design and the smallest footprint per MWe on the market. In the U.S., at the Vogtle site in Georgia, one AP1000 unit is in commercial operation while a second unit is projected to come online during the second quarter of 2024. Four AP1000 reactors are currently setting operational performance and availability records in China with eight additional reactors under construction. It has been selected for the nuclear energy programs in Poland, Ukraine and Bulgaria, and is also under consideration at multiple other sites in Central and Eastern Europe, the UK, India and North America.
The AP300 small modular reactor is the only SMR based on an advanced, large Generation III+ reactor already in operation globally. Westinghouse is targeting design certification for the AP300 SMR by 2027 and for construction to begin by 2030. The first operating unit is planned to be available in the early 2030s. The AP300 SMR has been downselected by the U.K.’s Great British Nuclear program and is under further customer consideration in Europe and North America.