* Company is Key Participant in Pebble Bed Modular Reactor Program
* Engineering, Technical Staff to Support Service Work at Existing Nuclear
Plants
MONROEVILLE, Pa., July 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Westinghouse Electric Company
today announced it has signed an agreement to purchase IST Nuclear (ISTN),
a leading provider of services and systems for the Pebble Bed Modular
Reactor (PBMR).
The sale is contingent on approval from the South Africa Competition
Commission.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but Westinghouse did
announce that all of ISTN's 118 employees will be retained. Once the
acquisition is complete, likely in August, ISTN will operate under the name
Westinghouse Electric South Africa (Pty) Ltd.
In announcing the acquisition, Nick Liparulo, Vice President of
Engineering Services for Westinghouse, said that IST is a perfect match for
Westinghouse. "ISTN is a key participant in the development of the Pebble
Bed Modular Reactor," he said. "Westinghouse has long been a proponent of
the PBMR, and this acquisition will allow us to become even more involved
as PBMR moves toward commercialization.
"Equally important, we intend to expand ISTN's scope to include working
with Westinghouse in servicing existing light water reactors in South
Africa and elsewhere," he said. "We view ISTN as a growth business."
Dr. Rita Bowser, Regional Vice President-South Africa for Westinghouse,
said the ISTN acquisition illustrates Westinghouse's strong commitment to
the South African nuclear market.
"The ability to work with a respected local company will allow
Westinghouse to better serve this important market both now and in the
future," she said. "Clearly, we are even better positioned to help South
Africa meet the critical demand for clean, safe and reliable energy in the
coming decades."
Dr. Bowser will be based in ISTN's office in Centurion, South Africa.
ISTN, formerly part of IST Holdings, was instrumental in the early
development of the PBMR, working with the South African utility Eskom and
U.S.-based investors, including Westinghouse. Most recently, ISTN supplied
the helium test facility for the PBMR. The company is also under contract
to design key systems for a PBMR demonstration unit to be built at the
Koeberg site by 2011.
Alongside PBMR, South Africa is also a promising market for the AP1000,
Westinghouse's third-generation PWR system. As it contributes to the early
commercial launch of PBMR, Westinghouse will also strongly promote AP1000
systems in South Africa, in order to meet the country's fast growing demand
for electricity in the country. As a result ISTN will become an important
hub for both the PBMR and PWR businesses.
Westinghouse, a group company of Toshiba Corporation, is the world's
pioneering nuclear power company and is a leading supplier of nuclear plant
products and technologies to utilities throughout the world. Westinghouse
supplied the world's first Pressurized Water Reactor in 1957 in
Shippingport, Pa. Today, Westinghouse technology is the basis for
approximately one-half of the world's operating nuclear plants, including
60 percent of those in the United States and 100 percent in South Africa.
SOURCE Westinghouse Electric Company
back to top
