News

With the nuclear market booming, Weir Power and Industrial is in a strong position to deliver valves to the nuclear power industry.  One such success story for Weir is the US facility in Ipswich, Massachusetts, which manufactures the Tricentric triple offset butterfly valve. The facility now possesses an ASME III N stamp, enabling them to produce nuclear grade products.  Thanks to this certification and the hard work of the nuclear sales team, a significant nuclear valve order from Westinghouse was secured earlier this year.  This order gives Weir Power and Industrial the responsibility for the installation of “N” stamped valves in the new units at Sanmen and Haiyang sites in China.

Sanmen and Haiyang sites are the first in China to deploy the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor.  The AP1000 is the first US pressurised water reactor design to utilize third generation passive technology, which uses natural reactor circulation and gravity fed cooling systems to perform many of its safety functions.  Westinghouse has six further orders for the AP1000 units in the US, and is in discussion with many other countries for additional units around the world to construct the AP1000 standardized design.

Weir Power and Industrials TRICENTRIC® triple offset butterfly valves will be used in the nuclear island of the plant for a containment isolation function. Many of the valves are required to operate before, during, and after an event which requires a performance qualification test to prove reliability.  The standard of testing for active valves is ASME QME-1, which is a new standard, and Weir will be the first US manufacturer to qualify butterfly valves.

Due to Westinghouse’s desire to standardize, Weir is in an excellent position to secure significant future nuclear business worldwide.