Westinghouse Electric Company, its consortium team member The Shaw Group Inc. and China's State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC) announce the successful setting of the AP1000 containment vessel top head for the nuclear island of Unit 1 at the Sanmen site in China.

The containment vessel top head was manufactured at Shandong Nuclear Power Equipment Manufacturing Co., Ltd. in China's Shandong province. It weighs approximately 659 tons. Placement of the containment vessel top head was finished on Jan. 29 at 9:56 a.m. China Time.

Setting of the containment vessel top head is a significant step in Westinghouse's delivery of the world's first AP1000 nuclear power plant. Before the containment vessel top head could be set, numerous pieces of major equipment had to be produced, tested, shipped and placed inside containment. This milestone further demonstrates the company's commitment to the safe and successful completion of AP1000 projects worldwide.

"The successful setting of the AP1000 containment vessel top head shows that Westinghouse, its partners and Chinese customers are committed to bringing China's first four AP1000 units online safely and with high quality," said Deva Chari, Westinghouse senior vice president for Nuclear Power Plant Project Delivery.

"We continue to work closely with our partners and customers to achieve the progress that will move the project forward to a successful completion. We are confident that our delivery of the world's first AP1000 plants in China will demonstrate the many benefits of our technology and provide the citizens of China with safe, clean, reliable energy for generations to come."

Westinghouse and The Shaw Group Inc. signed landmark contracts with Chinese customers in 2007 to provide four AP1000 pressurized water reactors in China, two in Sanmen in Zhejiang, and another pair in Haiyang in Shandong province.

SNPTC expects that the first AP1000 unit at Sanmen will start to produce electricity in 2014.