New Boss Leads Westing house’s Nuclear Business in China

U.S.-based westinghouse， which is the supplier of the third-generation nuclear technologies AP1000 appointed a new general manager in China in August. He was given the mission to further increase its share in the nuclear power market in China.

Bruce D. Schlueter， who has been working for Westinghouse for 11 years， was appointed general manager of this company in China on August 1. In the new position， he is responsible for the strategic planning and business expansion of the Chinese market. He also takes charge of the demand of the integration of various product lines.

Schlueter’s appointment was made when Westinghouse is in the critical period of promoting its nuclear power technology in china. The company has already settled the AP1000 technologies in China， but it will take time for it to move into the matured operation. The appointment of Schlueter has revealed Westinghouse’s ambition of speeding up its distribution in the Chinese nuclear power market.

“Schlueter’s appointment as the general manager of the Chinese branch is good news for us. He will continue to promote the sustainable development of Westinghouse in China with his expertise in the nuclear power market and experiences in the Chinese market. Under his leadership， the partnership between us and our Chinese clients are to be consolidated and deepened，” says Liu Xingang， fist vice president of Westinghouse and president of Westinghouse Asia.

The “experiences in China” of Schlueter refers to his work as the president of SNPT Weike Nuclear Power Service （Beijing） Co.， Ltd， taking charge of the business development in the Chinese market. The company is a joint venture founded by State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation （SNTP） and Westinghouse.

Timothy Collier， former general manager of Westinghouse China， re- turned to the headquarters in the U.S. after being given an important position in a newly-founded department.

Westinghouse， headquartered in Pennsylvania， is a world-leading supplier of nuclear power technologies and environmental protection services. Half a century ago， this company built the world’s pressurized water reactor nuclear power units for a commercial nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. At present， half of the world’s commercial nuclear power plants and 60% of nuclear power plants in the U.S. are using the technologies from Westinghouse.

Westinghouse was greeted with development opportunities in China in 2006， in which it defeated France-based AREVA Group in the bidding for the third generation of nuclear power technologies in China. Before the victory， the two companies had contended for the world’s largest nuclear power contracts for two years.

One year later， the distribution of new nuclear power technologies official-ly started in China. Westinghouse got the construction contracts of two nuclear power plants located in Sanmen， Zhejiang and Haiyang， Shandong. The two plants will accommodate four AP1000 nuclear power units. The Chinese decision-makers imported this technology with the idea of eliminating the disunity in the technological patterns and standards of nuclear power for the convenience of management.

Then， the State Council founded SNPT in 2007 as the main body to introduce， absorb and re-innovate the AP1000 nuclear power technologies. In the “2014 AP/CAP Annual Conference for Qualified Suppliers of Nuclear Power” cosponsored by SNPT and Westinghouse in May， Wang Binghua， board chairman of SNPT， says that the two companies have overcome the challenges from the first set of technologies and devices of AP/CAP since the settlement of AP1000 in China and its development there. They have been working hard to improve the strength and brand awareness of the supply chain， putting it into the top of the construction and innovation of the third generation of nuclear power technology in the world.

According to the requirements of the Middle- and Long-term Development Plan of Nuclear Power of China， the ensuing nuclear power projects of China will mainly use AP/CAP technologies in the future.

That means more opportunities of Westinghouse in China.

It is known that SNPT and Westinghouse have already reached an agreement with the tasks clearly divided between them. Westinghouse is responsible for the development of the international market for AP1000 and SNPT and other Chinese enterprises will support it. Their roles are reserved when it comes to CAP1400 as the SNPT will play the main role and supporting roles belong to Westinghouse and other foreign enterprises.

According to the agreement， the U.S. company is going to transfer the technologies after the Chinese companies’ importing AP1000. That means that the construction of following AP1000 projects is going to be shouldered by Chinese local enterprises apart from the two projects.

However， Collier says that the Westinghouse is talking with several Chinese enterprises to decide which one could take the role of Westinghouse in the following projects of AP1000 in China.

Westinghouse and Chinese nuclear power enterprises still need some time to address all problems. The No. 1 power units in Sanmen were expected to generate power in 2013， but various reasons have stopped the construction of this plant by 24 months.