U.S. Ambassador Meets Westinghouse Kozloduy Team

		The Honorable U.S. Ambassador John Beyrle meets with members of the Westinghouse Kozloduy team at the I&C supplier's on-site office. Leadership of Westinghouse's engineering team by experts from the region, working closely with U.S. technical experts, was pointed out as a key factor in the success of the project. (PRNewsFoto/Westinghouse Electric Company) SOFIA BULGARIA

SOFIA, Bulgaria, Nov. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The Honorable John Beyrle, U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria, visited the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant Nov. 13 to see the site and meet with company officials. The Ambassador was accompanied by Bulgarian Nuclear Regulatory Agency Chairman Tzotchev and his deputy for Nuclear Safety, Mr. Stanimirov, and several distinguished members of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, including the Honorable Commissioner Jeffrey Merrifield. The visit included a presentation by KNPP management and a tour of the operating nuclear units. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061114/CLTU105 ) As part of the Ambassador's visit to the Kozloduy Site, the Ambassador met with Westinghouse Electric Company management. Westinghouse is replacing portions of the Kozloduy Units 5 and 6 Russian Instrumentation and Control Systems with state-of-the-art digital control systems as part of the overall modernization of Units 5 and 6. The Westinghouse systems provide proven technology that improves system performance, reliability and safety, in compliance with U.S. and Western European standards. The Ambassador heard a presentation on the Westinghouse Instrumentation & Control business and how Westinghouse and KNPP have worked closely together to assure the success of these projects at Kozloduy. The Westinghouse I&C project with Kozloduy Units 5 & 6 is unique, as it is a first-of-a-kind large scale I&C modernization project for a VVER type plant. Westinghouse has successfully completed replacements of the KNPP Units 5 and 6 Computer Information System, Radiation Monitoring System, Turbine Control System (ACYT), and Primary Control Systems. Westinghouse has just completed the installation of the Unit 6 Secondary Control Systems and is currently running tests prior to the Unit 6 going back to power. Westinghouse will be installing the Unit 5 Secondary Control Systems during the spring 2007 outage. A follow-on project for implementation of a Chemistry Monitoring System was recently begun by Westinghouse at KNPP. Westinghouse believes that its current successful performance and on-time installations during the Kozloduy Units 5 & 6 modernization project demonstrate that Westinghouse has the proven technology and experience to add significant value to Nuclear Power Plant projects in Bulgaria. Westinghouse Electric Company is the world's pioneering nuclear power company and is a leading supplier of nuclear plant products and technologies to utilities throughout the world. Today, Westinghouse technology is the basis for approximately one-half of the world's operating nuclear plants.