Sheffield Forgemasters Wins Civil Nuclear Contracts

Sheffield Forgemasters reports news of contracts it has logged recently to supply civil nuclear-power components for operations in Argentina and South Korea. Forgemasters is the only British company to be certified by ASME to manufacture civil nuclear forgings and castings. Each contract is given a value of about $2 million by Sheffield Forgemasters (SFIL). The order from Argentina comes from Babcock & Wilcox, which is updating the National Atomic Energy Commission’s Embalse power plant, a 600-MW Candu-type reactor on the Rio Tercero in Cordoba. "Babcock and Wilcox view SFIL as a strategic supplier for future Canadian contracts, and this order builds on the good working relationship that has developed between the two companies over the last four years,” explained David Bunney, general sales manager at Sheffield Forgemasters Engineering Ltd. He described the order as being for four forged tube sheets that form a critical part of the reactor’s steam generator, with water pipes running through them. Each of these parts will weigh up to 20 metric tons. Delivery is scheduled for early 2010. The order from South Korea was placed by Germany’s KSB, an engineering group that produces pumps and valve systems worldwide. SFIL is supplying replacement seal housings and covers for a Westinghouse/KSB reactor at the 1,400-MW Shin Kori nuclear power plant owned and operated by the (state owned) Korean Electric Power Co. SFIL will supply eight sets of components, each set comprised of two 3.5-metric ton forgings. Delivery is set to take place in July 2009. "Sheffield Forgemasters is servicing a global nuclear power market, which is expanding to feed a significant shortfall in power generation capacity across the globe,” explained CEO Graham Honeyman. “There are less than ten companies in the world capable of this type of civil nuclear power manufacturing.”