FairAndUnbiased
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Heavy Manufacturing of Power Plants
Heavy Manufacturing of Power Plants
Reactor vendors prefer large forgings to be integral, as single products, but it is possible to use split forgings which are welded together. These welds then need checking through the life of the plant. Also, whereas Generation II reactors might require some 2000 tonnes of forgings, EPR and AP1000 units require about twice the amount.
Westinghouse says that the minimum requirement for making the largest AP1000 components is a 15,000 tonne press taking 350 tonne ingots.
The very heavy forging capacity in operation today is in Japan (Japan Steel Works), China (China First Heavy Industries and China Erzhong) and Russia (OMZ Izhora).
Nothing in North America currently approaches these enterprises.