Curtiss-Wright Corporation

Nuclear Power Technologies

Utilities are upgrading nuclear power plants to support higher power output and extend operating licenses to help meet the need for reliable, inexpensive power generation with no greenhouse gas emissions.

Improving capacity and enhancing safety for a fleet of operating reactors, where half of the plants are over 30 years old, is the challenge facing utilities today. Curtiss-Wright is a key supplier of a broad range of products and services for both currently operating reactors as well as new nuclear plant construction worldwide.

Curtiss-Wright has an installed base of products at every nuclear plant in the U.S. To keep plants operating at maximum efficiency, we support our customers with technical expertise, spare parts, upgrades, and repair services. Many suppliers abandoned the industry during its downturn in the 1980s. It is estimated that each nuclear plant has approximately 20,000 obsolete parts for which replacements are not readily available. Curtiss-Wright proactively works with utilities to define, prioritize, and solve obsolescence issues using a myriad of strategies. Degradation of equipment necessitates the need for innovative, economical replacement options that can be implemented with minimal impact to plant operations. An example is Curtiss-Wright's NETCO-SNAP-IN® inserts, which mitigate deterioration of neutron absorbing material in spent fuel pools.

Curtiss-Wright is a vanguard of inspection, assessment, and condition monitoring technology for critical nuclear plant equipment. The need for accurately assessing equipment condition and enhancing plant safety has never been more important for the nuclear industry. Events such as those that took place at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan in 2011 highlight the importance and need for our expertise and products. We offer the latest technologies in plant process computer upgrades, probabilistic risk assessment, equipment reliability products, on-board equipment diagnostics, and non-destructive testing and inspection services.

Nuclear plant refueling outages occur every 18-24 months. It is critical to minimize the amount of time the plant is shut down and to ensure that all activities are conducted with the utmost regard for unwavering personnel safety with minimal radiation exposure, as well as enhanced attention to reactor safety. Curtiss-Wright supports each of these vital goals. The use of our HydraNut® technology shaves crucial days off of outage time by providing a safer method of tensioning reactor heads. Our nozzle dams seal reactor coolant piping; our Pop-a-Plugs® isolate leaking heat exchanger tubes; and our Volumetrics products verify containment seal integrity. These are just a few of the many Curtiss-Wright products that are integral to supporting successful plant outages.

New construction of nuclear plants offers substantial opportunity for Curtiss-Wright to provide our most sophisticated products and services. We designed the world's most advanced reactor coolant pump for Westinghouse's AP1000® reactor design. As the industry's leader in equipment qualification, we support many other suppliers by testing their products at our labs to ensure they can withstand worst-case, postulated conditions.

Curtiss-Wright has supported the commercial nuclear power market since the first nuclear plant went online and continues to invest in new technology to make plants safer and more reliable. We are well positioned to respond to the considerable demand for products as advanced nuclear plants are designed and constructed in the U.S. and across the globe. Curtiss-Wright remains keenly focused on enhancing the performance of operating plants that are essential to the supply of safe, clean, and economical energy.