Westinghouse Electric Company president, Europe, Middle East and Africa Yves Brachet and a high level delegation visited the city of Ostrava, the industrial heartland of the Czech Republic and administrative center of the Moravian-Silesian Region. Mr. Brachet met with key regional political and business leaders in preparation for the potential construction of Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear power plants in the Czech Republic and potentially beyond.

The first stop included a meeting of regional executives, including Jan Svetlik, Vitkovice a.s. Chairman of the Board of Directors and President of the Vitkovice Machinery Group. During this meeting, Mr. Brachet took the opportunity to sign Agreements on Future Contracts for the Temelin 3 and 4 nuclear power plant project with Vitkovice Heavy Machinery a.s, Vitkovice Power Engineering a.s and Hutni montaze a.s.

Under the terms of these strategically important agreements, these prominent Czech companies will commit to jointly fabricate and install a majority of the key structural and mechanical modules for the AP1000 reactor if Westinghouse is awarded the contract for the extension of Temelin Nuclear Power Plant.

"The Agreements on Future Contracts marks a further important milestone in Westinghouse's ongoing drive and commitment to develop local Czech partners and deliver a highly competitive tender to CEZ for the construction of two AP1000 reactors at the Temelin nuclear power plant site," said Yves Brachet.

"This scope represents a very significant percentage of the total plant construction and will result in hundreds of millions of Czech crowns and sustained work for thousands of Czech workers from the Moravian-Silesian region. This opportunity will also uniquely position these companies for similar work in other AP1000 construction projects in Europe. However, any further interruptions in the Temelin tender will undermine and postpone these socio-economic benefits to the region and the Czech Republic."

Chairman of the Vitkovice Board of Directors and president of the Vitkovice Machinery Group Jan Svetlik said, "Vitkovice Machinery Group has a long tradition supplying to the nuclear energy industry, both at home and abroad, with current annual orders in excess of several billion Czech crowns. The members of the Czech Machinery Cluster are also ready to participate in new opportunities and challenges in the industry.

"A qualified supply chain consisting of over 3,000 trained and experienced individuals is ready to participate in the opportunities from the Temelin 3 and 4 project. Vitkovice Machinery Group, as well as all the other member companies of the Czech Machinery Cluster, has long-term intentions to participate in the nuclear industry. Vitkovice is prepared not only for cooperation in the Temelin 3 and 4 project, but also on worldwide projects."

As part of an ongoing process to train and qualify Czech companies to build the world's most advanced nuclear power plant, Westinghouse contracted Vitkovice Power Engineering in July 2013 to construct a mock-up section of one of the AP1000 plant's critical, and largest, modules, the CA20. When fully constructed, the CA20 stands five stories high and contains key equipment supporting safe, reliable operations. This demonstration project involved the fabrication of a sub-module cutaway-section of CA20.

At the unveiling ceremony for the completed mock-up module, Mr. Brachet said, "The demonstration project has allowed Vitkovice Power Engineering to familiarize itself with Westinghouse, and indeed global technical and quality requirements. Westinghouse adheres to internationally recognized codes and standards, such as American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) utilized in Europe, North America and Asia. Vitkovice Power Engineering will additionally benefit by applying these standards globally, beyond the nuclear industry."

The AP1000 plant has been designed to make use of modern modular-construction techniques, which allow many more construction activities to proceed in parallel. This reduces the calendar time for plant construction, thereby reducing the cost of money and the exposure risks associated with plant financing.

These construction techniques are already being utilized with success in the U.S. and China, and represent a very significant percentage of the total plant construction.