Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
1/9/2015
Bechtel and Westinghouse Electric Company have entered into a multi-year partnership agreement to provide decontamination and decommissioning services for commercial nuclear power plants. The partnership will cover a range of services, including pre-shutdown planning, licensing, project development and management, dismantling, demolition, waste handling, and site closeout—with a central focus on the safe and efficient handling of radioactive materials, the companies said in announcing the partnership this week. “Westinghouse is pleased to join with Bechtel to bring about the most fully-integrated range of decontamination and decommissioning services available to the U.S. nuclear energy market,” Westinghouse President of Americas Mark Marano said in a statement. “The deployment of consolidated, proven technologies and processes from this alliance will meet the needs of U.S. nuclear power plants that are coming off-line, ultimately allowing the opportunity to return the land to useable property.”
Westinghouse’s entrance into the D&D market marks a shift for the company, which has been mainly known for its front-end nuclear work, with over half the nation’s nuclear fleet using the company’s technology. With Westinghouse’s front-end expertise, combined with Bechtel’s project management experience, the partnership could deliver huge results for the companies. “We view our strengths as very complementary—Westinghouse in nuclear reactors, steam generation, and coolant systems, and Bechtel in project management, large construction projects, waste management, and demolition,” Bechtel spokesman Fred deSousa said. “Bechtel was the architect-engineer on 71 nuclear units and built 42 units worldwide, and has serviced some 88 percent of the U.S. fleet. Westinghouse technology is the basis for approximately one-half of the world’s operating nuclear plants.”
Decommissioning a Growing Market, But SONGS Remains Prize
While a host of nuclear plants are expected to shut down in the coming decades, it would appear that the two companies are hoping to leverage their skills in the immediate future to pursue the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) decommissioning contract, estimated at a price tag of approximately $4.4 billion, according to Southern California Edison’s Decommissioning Cost Estimate. “We believe the alliance provides a strong and proven set of capabilities that would provide excellent service to SONGS and the local community,” deSousa said.
SCE has begun the preliminary stages of procuring a contractor to manage the cleanup by issuing a Request for Information last year. According to an industry official, at least seven teams responded to a pre-qualification: AREVA/URS (since acquired by AECOM); Bechtel/Westinghouse/WCS; CB&I/EnergySolutions; Fluor/WTS; Holtec/Saulsbury; Jacobs/HII; and Kiewitt/Worley Parsons. It is assumed SCE will move forward in the bidding process with four or five teams following the prequalification stage, but SCE declined to comment this week on who has move forward in the process. SCE spokesman Maureen Brown did, however, confirm that the utility plans to issue a Request for Proposals by the end of the first quarter and award the contract by the end of the year.
Outside of SONGS, the decommissioning market for commercial plants could begin to boom in the coming decades. Looking at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s projections for needed funding in a plant’s decommissioning trust fund, the NRC estimates the cost of cleanup for plants readying for shutdown in the next 40 years at an estimated $70-100 billion. However, that estimate could be pushed back by plants choosing the SAFESTOR method of decommissioning, which enables a plant to sit for 60 years before major decommissioning activities need to begin. Bechtel and Westinghouse indicated, though, they are in the partnership for the long-haul. “Given current conditions in the energy generation markets, we see these services as a need in the coming years, and we can meet that need with a proven team,” deSousa said. “Decisions on SAFESTOR are up to the plant owners, but when they decide it’s time to start planning for decommissioning, we’re able to provide the full suite of services.”
Despite the threat of SAFESTOR, there exists other opportunities for contractors to aid in a plant’s preparation work for entering extended storage. This area can keep contractors in touch with the plants, which could prove valuable down the line, one industry official said. “Even going into a SAFESTOR, you have to get the plant stable, so there are opportunities there to do work,” the industry official said. “They are all smaller, but the idea is to keep your finger in the pie with all the different customers. So, SAFESTOR plants are still options to look at.”
