Shaw says NRC concern won't delay nuclear reactor

By Scott DiSavino

NEW YORK, Oct 16 (Reuters) - After U.S. regulators raised safety concerns about the design of a new Westinghouse nuclear reactor, a company that owns part of Westinghouse said on Friday it did not expect a delay in certification of the reactor design.

Shares of the Shaw Group Inc fell 9 percent in Friday afternoon trade on the New York Stock Exchange, a day after the NRC told Westinghouse it had some safety concerns about the AP1000 shield building. [ID:nT278390]

The Shaw Group Inc (SHAW.N: 行情), which owns 20 percent of Westinghouse Electric Co, said Westinghouse does not expect a delay in U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission certification of the AP1000 nuclear reactor design and still expected the first units enter service by 2016.

Several major companies have said they plan to use the Westinghouse AP1000 design in new nuclear power plants.

The NRC said Westinghouse has not demonstrated that certain structural components of the revised AP1000 shield building can withstand design basis loads. The shield building protects the reactor's primary containment from severe weather, provides a radiation barrier during normal operation and supports an emergency cooling water tank.

Shaw said in a release all issues outlined by the NRC could be addressed from a technical perspective and the remaining steps of the certification and licensing of the AP1000 should continue as currently scheduled.

Shaw, a construction and engineering company based in BatonRouge, Louisiana, owns Westinghouse along with Japanese manufacturing company and majority owner Toshiba Corp (6502.T: 行情) and others.

On its website, Westinghouse said its goal was to have NRC certification of the AP1000 in 2011.

The NRC said Westinghouse will have to modify the design of the shield building and perform testing to demonstrate the building will perform its intended safety function under design basis loads.

"We've been talking to Westinghouse regularly about the shield building since October 2008, and we've consistently laid out our questions to the company," Michael Johnson, director of the NRC's Office of New Reactors, said in the release.

"This is a situation where fundamental engineering standards will have to be met before we can begin determining whether the shield building meets the agency's requirements," Johnson added.

The NRC said the impact on the overall AP1000 certification review schedule would be established after the NRC staff and Westinghouse discuss the company's plans to address the NRC's conclusions regarding the shield building design.

The NRC could not immediately say whether the shield building issue would affect the plans of those power companies expecting to use the AP1000 design in their proposed new nuclear power plants.

Several companies, including subsidiaries of Tennessee Valley Authority, Duke Energy Corp (DUK.N: 行情), Progress Energy Inc (PGN.N: 行情), Southern Co (SO.N: 行情), SCANA Corp (SCG.N: 行情) and FPL Group Inc (FPL.N: 行情), have told the NRC they plan to use the AP1000 in their new nuclear plants.

With the S&P 500 Index down less than 1 percent, Shaw stock was off more than 8 percent, or $2.55, to $28.69 in afternoon trade. A Shaw spokeswoman would not comment on the stock price. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by David Gregorio)