Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Westinghouse Electric have received an order from Dominion Generation for replacement reactor vessel heads at four reactors in Virginia. The order is for the two 920MWe units at North Anna and both Surry reactors (810MWe each).
The prime contractor is MHI America, a wholly owned subsidiary of MHI. Supply of reactor vessel heads and control rod drive mechanisms will be carried out by MHI, and the components will be manufactured by Kobe Shipyard and Machinery Works of MHI. Westinghouse is responsible for the installation work at the sites.
Installation of three replacement heads is planned to take place in 2004, with the fourth one early in 2005. The work will be carried out during scheduled refuelling outages. The capital project cost is $175 million, and has been incorporated in Dominion’s plans.
In 2001, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission ordered the inspection of all PWR reactor heads after hairline cracks were discovered in all three Oconee heads. Dominion discovered, and repaired, nine penetrations with apparent seepage or that did not meet American Society of Mechanical Engineers code on two of the four heads – six indications at Surry 1 and three on North Anna 2.
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