[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06340/743843-28.stm

Western Pa. lands Westinghouse engineering unit
Monroeville and Cranberry vie for new facility and up to 2,000 high-paying jobs
Wednesday, December 06, 2006

By Dan Fitzpatrick and Steve Massey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



Western Pennsylvania will get a Westinghouse Electric Corp. expansion that will bring 1,000 to 2,000 new high-paying jobs to the region, the only question being whether the new facility will be built in Monroeville or Cranberry.

Sources familiar with the situation said the nuclear energy company's board met Monday night and selected its home region over Charlotte, N.C., which also had been vying for a new engineering campus Westinghouse says it needs to accommodate expected growth in the nuclear plant business.

Monroeville-based Westinghouse, which already employs about 3,000 in the region and 9,000 worldwide, has been in an expansion mode in recent years amid a revival of nuclear power's prospects and resignations of older staffers. It hired 800 people last year, will hire 900 more this year and expects to hire a minimum of 500 new workers in succeeding years.

The former conglomerate, whose technology is used in half of the world's operating nuclear power plants, is a finalist to build four nuclear power plants in China and potentially dozens more there in coming years. Its latest nuclear plant design also has been selected by several U.S. power companies planning new nuclear reactors. If regulatory clearances are received, they would be the first domestic nuclear plant orders since 1978.

The decision to build in the region comes weeks after Gov. Ed Rendell signed a bill providing a 15-year abatement on sales taxes, corporate net income taxes and corporate stock and franchise taxes to large companies that stay in Pennsylvania.

State and area lawmakers, as well as Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato and the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, pushed hard for the bill's passage, saying it was key to keeping Westinghouse in its home region.

Westinghouse spokesman Vaughn Gilbert would not comment on whether a decision has been made on where to build the new campus, which would be home to technical, administrative and engineering personnel earning up to $100,000 or so a year.

But he said people involved with the site selection process have asked for more information and that a decision is expected soon. "We've had significant support from the governor of Pennsylvania, local elected officials and the Allegheny Conference,'' Mr. Gilbert said.

Insiders say Cranberry Woods, which is along Route 228, is one of the two finalists. Its advantages include plenty of space for buildings and parking, and because of the new law, Westinghouse would not have to pay local taxes if local officials agree.

The other site is Westinghouse's existing twin-office campus in Monroeville. It fully occupies one building there and the second building is almost full, meaning Westinghouse would have to build another structure there.

Westinghouse would continue to pay its current level of taxes that support the Gateway School District, though it would not have to pay additional taxes on the new space in Monroeville.

A third site, the Tech 21 industrial park in Marshall, no longer is under consideration.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Dan Fitzpatrick can be reached at dfitzpatrick@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1752. Steve Massey can be reached at smassey@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1174. )

[AaronPGH]

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ChunkyMonkey]

It's always nice to hear about a success story in a northern city especially against the sunbelt city.

[markdv]

You can feel the pendulum finally swinging Pittsburgh's way ! After years of decline, Fort Pitt is on the rise thanks to it's educated workforce, low cost of living, great natural landscape and educational offerings ! Rise, Pittsburgh, rise !:banana:

[Ex-Ithacan]

Now THAT is great news. I hope this is just the start of many more good news items for the "burgh.

[Evergrey]

You can feel the pendulum finally swinging Pittsburgh's way ! After years of decline, Fort Pitt is on the rise thanks to it's educated workforce, low cost of living, great natural landscape and educational offerings ! Rise, Pittsburgh, rise !:banana:


http://www.post-gazette.com/images3/20050823dm_privatesector_450.jpg

[Visiteur]

Wonderful for the region, simply wonderful!

[Evergrey]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_483024.html

Westinghouse to hire 1,000

By Thomas Olson
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, December 7, 2006


Westinghouse Electric Co.'s decision to hire and base at least 1,000 nuclear engineers in Western Pennsylvania will light up the region's economy, economists said Wednesday.
"There are very few investment or location decisions each year in the U.S. of this magnitude," said Donald Smith, vice president of economic development for Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh.

"These jobs will have a tremendous economic impact. They are high-paying jobs that will attract highly skilled talent into this region," he said.

The Monroeville company's board met Monday night and narrowed its nine-month-long search to Monroeville or Cranberry. The company will select one in about a month.





Westinghouse expects to garner a healthy share of contracts for nuclear plant construction in the United States and overseas.

In the past year, four U.S. electric utilities in the Southeast have selected Westinghouse nuclear reactor technology for power plants they plan to build. In addition, Westinghouse is a leading candidate to win $8 billion in contracts related to four nuclear plants in China.

About 3,000 of the company's more than 9,000 workers are based in this area, including about 1,800 in Monroeville and 700 at the Waltz Mill plant in Madison, Westmoreland County.

Smith estimates that for each of the new Westinghouse jobs, three other local jobs would be created -- part of what economists call "the multiplier effect."

"And for every dollar of payroll added, three dollars would get spent in the region, as these Westinghouse people buy homes, and purchase goods and services," said Smith.

The average Westinghouse nuclear engineering job here will pay about $80,000. The corporation intends to hire between 1,000 and 2,000 of them in the next eight to 10 years, depending on the rate of growth in the nuclear power market.

"That's as many technology jobs as we've created in an average year in the past five years," said Smith.

"This may be perceived as a turf battle (with Cranberry), but from our standpoint, Westinghouse already calls Monroeville home," said Chad Amond, president of the Monroeville Area Chamber of Commerce.

"We'd hate to see Westinghouse move only about an hour away to the North Hills," said Amond. "It would draw employment from Monroeville and the eastern suburbs."

The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that US. energy demand in the next 25 years will jump 45 percent. That equals 300,000 megawatts of power, or three times the amount of nuclear power generating capacity currently.

Nuclear power plants represent about 19 percent of the nation's generating capacity, according to the energy agency. That percentage is only three points higher than nuclear's share 20 years ago.

"With that kind of growth in demand, and assuming nuclear's share remains constant, you're talking about another 50 nuclear power plants," said Steve Kerekes, spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute in Washington.

"And there's no reason Westinghouse shouldn't get a good share of that," said Kerekes. "A number of companies are looking at Westinghouse's AP1000 (reactor) as their design of choice."

Westinghouse's AP1000 design is an advanced, 1,100-megawatt nuclear generator that is simpler and more efficient than conventional nuclear reactors. One megawatt of power generation, or 1,000 kilowatts, is enough to power about 800 homes.

The expansion comes on the heels of Westinghouse's ownership change to Toshiba Corp. The Japanese conglomerate acquired the company from British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. on Oct. 16 for $5.4 billion.

The selection by Westinghouse marks a victory over Charlotte, N.C., which had been competing for the facility.

Kati Hynes, economic development vice president of the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce said The Staubach Co., a commercial real estate firm doing the site selection work for Westinghouse, told her about a week ago that Western Pennsylvania had been chosen over Charlotte. Staubach officials could not be reached yesterday.

"Clearly, Westinghouse is making a positive statement about Pittsburgh by choosing it over North Carolina," said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist of PNC Financial Services Group. "It shows this is a good place to do business and has a good talent pool for these types of highly skilled engineering jobs."

"They also are going to build or expand a facility, so you've got the construction and other types of related jobs," said Hoffman.

Whichever Western Pennsylvania site Westinghouse selects for the complex, it will be about 700,000 square feet of office space, said Gilbert.

The Cranberry site is at Cranberry Woods Office Park, a 327-acre site in Butler County, said Michele Hansarick, spokeswoman for state Sen. Jane Orie, whose district includes the location.

The site is convenient to the intersection of Interstate highways 76 and 79, and Routes 19 and 228. It is about 30 miles from Pittsburgh International Airport.

The Monroeville site is along Northern Pike and adjacent to Westinghouse's headquarters. The company controls about 138 acres at the location, which is about 32 miles from the airport.

"This is good news for Western Pennsylvania, and we want to make it better for Monroeville," said state Sen. Sean Logan, whose district includes Westinghouse's headquarters.

Although Monroeville officials have discussed a potential expansion there with Westinghouse representatives, no formal plans have been presented, said Joel Palaschak, the community's director of communications.

"What we need is a facility that can accommodate our growth, is large enough to expand and has sufficient parking. When you hire 1,000 to 2,000 people, you need sufficient space for parking," said Gilbert.

"We also needed to be near a major airport, and either Pittsburgh-area facility would be close enough to the airport," said Gilbert, whose co-workers frequently fly to Westinghouse offices and job sites around the world.

Even before deciding to locate a nuclear-engineering campus last March, Westinghouse had expected to hire about 2,500 workers over the next five years, with more than 800 of them based in Western Pennsylvania.

The company hired 800 people last year, including almost 300 locally, and is on track to hire about 900 people this year, said Gilbert.

Westinghouse Electric CEO Steve Tritch was traveling and could not be reached yesterday. But he is known to be an ardent supporter of Western Pennsylvania and received his MBA degree and bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.



Thomas Olson can be reached at tolson@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7854.

[Wheelingman04]

Finally, Charlotte loses to Pittsburgh. It is a great day in America.

[Paintballer1708]

Great news. Its nice to see almost 1000 people will be getting new jobs this year. Great news for the area.

[donybrx]

Wow...very positive news for Pittsburgh.. Charlotte must be smartin'...Hush Hush swet Charlotte......... (they'll get by............)

[DBR96A]

Wow...very positive news for Pittsburgh.. Charlotte must be smartin'...Hush Hush swet Charlotte......... (they'll get by............)

They'll be smarting even more after the Steelers beat the Panthers this coming Sunday. :whip:

(I'm going to that game.)

[Evergrey]

now we get to the intra-regional competition part... things could get ugly due to our backwards system of municipal governance in PA

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_483946.html

Monroeville aims to keep Westinghouse plant

By Bonnie Pfister
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, December 13, 2006


As Westinghouse Electric Co. mulls its expansion plans, Monroeville officials are scrambling to make the case that the company's nuclear engineering business -- located in the municipality since the 1970s -- should stay put.
A week after Westinghouse announced it had shelved the notion of expanding to the Carolinas in favor of growing locally, elected officials and Monroeville boosters will travel to Harrisburg on Thursday to underscore the ways in which the municipality relies on the corporation and its 1,800 local workers.

Westinghouse plans to add 1,000 to 2,000 nuclear engineers locally within the next eight to 10 years and needs 700,000 square feet in additional office space, plus parking. That growth comes from a renewed interest by U.S. utilities in nuclear energy as a cleaner-burning alternative to coal and from increased demand for nuclear plants in Europe and Asia.

The company is considering expanding its headquarters along Northern Pike, or building a facility along Route 228 in Cranberry, Butler County. Westinghouse spokesman Vaughn Gilbert said the decision on where to base the expansion should be made early next year.





"We believe we have far more to lose than the North Hills has to gain," said Chad Amond, president of the Monroeville Chamber of Commerce. "It would be taking dollars out of one pocket and putting them in another."

Amond said local hoteliers conservatively estimate that 11,000 rooms annually are rented by Westinghouse-related visitors, generating about $1.5 million in revenue. Money spent at restaurants and retailers would also be lost, he said.

And with Pittsburghers accustomed to an average commute of about 20 minutes, Amond estimated that at least 500 of Westinghouse's staffers might sell their homes in the eastern suburbs and move closer to Cranberry if their jobs are relocated.

While Westinghouse will take advantage of a yet-undetermined package of state and local tax breaks, employees will continue to pay occupation taxes to the community where the company is located, as well as earned income taxes to the communities in which they live. For Monroeville, municipal authorities say Westinghouse workers annually pay about $70,000 in occupation taxes and $310,000 in earned income taxes.

Officials in and around Cranberry seemed less excited by the prospects of having a Westinghouse campus in their region.

"Whether they stay in Monroeville or come to Butler County, I'd be happy with either. Of course, we'd love to have them here, but it's a win for Western Pennsylvania," said Scott K. Lowe, chairman of the Butler County Board of Commissioners.

"Let (Monroeville) do what they need to do, and we're going to do what we need to do," Lowe said. "I'm loath to get involved in an adversarial process. We, I think, are more of a regional mind than our friends in Allegheny County."

State Sens. Sean Logan, D-Monroeville, and Jay Costa Jr., D-Forest Hills, as well as municipal officials from Monroeville, the chamber, Gateway School District and local businesses will talk up Monroeville to Dennis Yablonsky, secretary of the state Department of Community and Economic Development.

Logan said he expects Yablonsky to share that information with Gov. Ed Rendell, who must eventually sign off on creation of four strategic development areas, or SDAs, across the state. Last month, Rendell signed legislation that will allow creation of such tax-incentive zones -- including two in Western Pennsylvania -- that were key to Westinghouse's decision to give up on the out-of-state locales.

Diane Sheets, executive director of Butler County's Community Development Corp., said no such trip was planned by those favoring the Cranberry site.

"We're working with (Westinghouse) to help them with their business decision," she said. "Going to Harrisburg doesn't seem to be a part of that."



Bonnie Pfister can be reached at bpfister@tribweb.com.

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06347/745663-85.stm

Westinghouse generates tug-of-war by Allegheny, Butler counties
Wednesday, December 13, 2006

By Dan Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



Everyone involved in the hunt for a big Westinghouse Electric Corp. expansion agrees that landing the project and up to 2,000 new jobs is a huge win for southwestern Pennsylvania.

But a competition over whether those jobs will end up in Cranberry or Monroeville is testing the bonds of regional cooperation between neighboring Butler and Allegheny counties, the finalists that are tussling for the project in alternative ways.

Cranberry's proponents in Butler County are choosing to hang back and go easy on the rhetoric while Monroeville's supporters from Allegheny County loudly campaign for their site.

"We can't sit back and not sell Monroeville," said state Sen. Sean Logan, D-Monroeville, who will lead more than 20 Allegheny County politicians and municipal, school and economic development officials to Harrisburg tomorrow for a meeting with Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary Dennis Yablonsky. Their mission: to make their case for an expansion of the Monroeville site where Westinghouse already occupies two buildings.

"I believe we can make an argument that Monroeville works for them," said Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato.

Separately, a smaller group from Butler County will meet with Mr. Yablonsky via a telephone hookup from the McCandless office of Republican state Sen. Jane Orie to discuss the Cranberry site, where a developer is proposing to build a 750,000-square-foot campus near Route 228.

It is not clear what the meetings will do for either side -- the state has nothing to do with Westinghouse's final decision.

"What they do is between them," said Westinghouse spokesman Vaughn Gilbert. "We will make a business decision and then work with the municipalities involved."

State community development spokesman Kevin Ortiz said: "Ultimately, Westinghouse is the only entity that can obviously or is best positioned to determine which of these sites is best suited to meet their needs."

This is not the first time a large real estate deal has tested teamwork between counties.

In 2001, Armstrong County Commissioner James Scahill accused Allegheny County officials of stealing away a $122 million manufacturing plant at the end of a three-state, 11-month economic development derby that saw the region beat out Orlando, Fla., and Fort Worth, Texas.

And in 1997, during a campaign for a regional sales tax that would have paid for stadiums and development in Pittsburgh, commissioners from outlying counties that also would have contributed to the sales tax complained about a perceived Allegheny County bias and expressed doubts about the true spirit of regional cooperation on development.

The Westinghouse deal is one of the biggest development projects to hit the Pittsburgh area in the last decade. The new engineering campus would be home to technical personnel earning up to $100,000 a year, adding to some 3,000 people Westinghouse already employs locally, the bulk at its Monroeville home.

All sides agreed at the beginning -- when seven states were still under consideration -- that southwestern Pennsylvania would speak with one voice and cooperate in its bid for the project even if separate sites around the region were in the running. That cooperation was evident in the passage of a state bill late this year that provides a 15-year abatement on various taxes -- a key factor in Westinghouse's decision to build in Pennsylvania.

But once Westinghouse made it clear last week that it preferred to build in southwestern Pennsylvania and would decide between sites in Cranberry and Monroeville, that initial promise of regional cooperation began to show signs of strain.

Mr. Logan organized the trip to Harrisburg and the meeting with Mr. Yablonsky, rankling officials in Butler County. And Mr. Onorato, the most recognizable politician in the area, agreed to participate by phone, sending his economic development director, Dennis Davin, to meet with Mr. Yablonsky in person.

But it is Mr. Logan who is leading the Monroeville campaign, at least publicly, saying in an interview yesterday that Cranberry and Monroeville are "not on equal playing fields" because Monroeville and its school district already are dependent on Westinghouse for tax revenues and local spending.

If Monroeville wins the expansion, Westinghouse would maintain its current level of tax payments to the local school district and be free of additional taxation on its expanded space. If Westinghouse goes to Cranberry, all taxes would be abated on the new campus if local and state officials approve.

Cranberry's win would be a "monumental loss for Monroeville," Mr. Logan said. "I think it is bad public policy to use tax dollars to shift jobs."

Uprooting employees in Monroeville and moving everything to Cranberry "doesn't make sense to me," said Mr. Onorato.

Cranberry officials refused to lob back any direct response to Mr. Logan and other Allegheny County officials.

"Our position has been to provide information to Westinghouse to help them make a business decision," said Cranberry Manager Jerry Andree.

"Cranberry isn't bidding against Monroeville, that is not the way the region should operate," Mr. Andree said. "That is not in any of our interests."

Diane Sheets, the director of the Community Development Corp. of Butler County, added: "The business decision rests with Westinghouse. I don't know what a trip to Harrisburg could do."

The county-to-county competition creates a "dilemma" for Mr. Onorato, said Jim Roddey, Allegheny County's inaugural chief executive. Mr. Onorato represents Allegheny County, but he is also the most visible politician in southwestern Pennsylvania.

"How does he support his own county and how does he campaign for regionalism?" Mr. Roddey wondered.

But Mr. Onorato said it is possible that Westinghouse could keep what it has in Monroeville and expand in Cranberry, and that no matter what the decision is, the region wins.

He cited an airport-area partnership with Beaver and Washington counties as proof that everyone can work together.

"As long as we get the company's expansion here, we all benefit," he said.

Another person who must bring the competing interests together is Michael Langley, chief executive officer of the Allegheny Conference, which represents the entire southwestern Pennsylvania region from its Downtown offices.

Initially, Mr. Langley was scheduled to make the trip to Harrisburg tomorrow with the Allegheny County group, but he decided to stay in Pittsburgh and participate in both counties' meetings via telephone.

"It is my belief that at the end of the day, southwestern Pennsylvania can and should be the winner of this project regardless of what site Westinghouse chooses," he said.

He added that "Westinghouse made it very clear if this process doesn't cross the finish line effectively, they reserve the right to conduct their expansion outside southwestern Pennsylvania."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Dan Fitzpatrick can be reached at dfitzpatrick@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1752. )

[Ex-Ithacan]

It's intra-metro squabbles like this that show how regionalizing government is desperately needed, but may never come to fruition.

[Antares41]

Gee! I just may move back to Penn Hills if I can nab one of those Westinghouse jobs.:yes:

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06351/746789-28.stm

China picks Westinghouse for 4 nuclear plants
Sunday, December 17, 2006

By Steve Massey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



In a major coup for Westinghouse Electric Co., China has selected it to build four nuclear power plants, the first of more than two dozen the world's most populous country hopes to build over the next 15 years.

A tentative agreement on the multibillion-dollar contract, which had been more than a decade in the making, was signed yesterday in Beijing by Chinese officials, U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, a representative from Westinghouse's Louisiana-based partner Shaw Group and Westinghouse President Steve Tritch.

The deal is expected to generate some 5,000 jobs in the United States, many in this region, where Monroeville-based Westinghouse already employs about 3,000 and plans to add up to 2,000 more -- in part on expectations of the China nuclear plant deals -- through an expansion of research facilities either in Monroeville or Cranberry.

The company expects to use suppliers in 20 states, including several in this region through ties that date back more than a generation, when Westinghouse was a huge industrial conglomerate. The company built the nation's first nuclear plant, in Shippingport in 1957.

"This is certainly positive for Westinghouse and for Western Pennsylvania,'' spokesman Vaughn Gilbert said.

He said Mr. Tritch had been in China since Dec. 6 to hash out last-minute details on the tentative agreement.

The agreement ends more than two years of intense negotiations that saw top government officials from the United States and France get involved as China narrowed its choice to Westinghouse and France's state-owned Areva Group.

China wants to double to 4 percent its power from nuclear energy by 2020 to cut pollution from coal-powered plants and ease its dependence on oil imports, a goal that would require it to build 25 nuclear plants. That represents a huge chunk of new business for a company that has seen new plant orders virtually disappear until recently, when it was selected to build a dozen new domestic nuclear plants if regulators give the go-ahead.

The China contract would mark the first international orders for Westinghouse's latest technology, the AP1000, a safer, quicker-to-build pressurized water reactor that can generate about 1,100 megawatts of electricity -- about the same as existing nuclear plants -- with 35 percent fewer pumps, 50 percent fewer valves, 70 percent less wiring and 80 percent less piping.

Westinghouse developed the technology in the 1990s and has been pushing to get a foot in the door in China ever since. China initially expressed interest in the new generation of nuclear plants in 1997, when President Clinton lifted a ban on the sale of nuclear technology to the country.

Westinghouse hopes the four reactors -- two each in Sanmen in Zhejiang province and at Yangjiang in Guangdong province -- would be up and running by 2013, Mr. Tritch said.

While a formal dollar figure was not put on the order, observers have said the AP1000s typically would be ordered in twos at a cost $2.2 billion to $2.7 billion a pair. That would value the China contract at $4.4 billion to $5.4 billion.

"This is an exciting day for the U.S. nuclear industry," Mr. Bodman said at yesterday's ceremony, where he and China's minister for the National Development and Reform Commission, Ma Kai, signed a memorandum of understanding supporting the transfer of nuclear technology to China.

That cleared the way for the subsequent signing of a companion agreement between China, Westinghouse and the Shaw Group, which owns a minority stake in Westinghouse along with Japan's Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co. Japanese electronics giant Toshiba Corp. owns the controlling 77 percent stake in Westinghouse, which it purchased in October from British Nuclear Fuels PLC for $5.4 billion.

Yesterday's agreement, struck in the wee morning hours, capped several days of top-level trade talks between China and the United States that otherwise yielded few concrete results. It was signed on the sidelines of a closed-door meeting of five major oil importing nations hosted by China

The Chinese side said it chose Westinghouse over Areva based on Westinghouse's technology, its agreement on transferring expertise, the style of cooperation and the prospects for developing locally based technology.

The agreement "pushes mankind into a new level of nuclear technology development," said Mr. Ma. "This project will certainly play a very important role in enhancing the cooperative partnership between China and the U.S."

"There is going to be some benefit on both sides," Mr. Tritch said. "As we take this technology forward in China we believe it will also help accelerate the efforts for the United States market as well."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Steve Massey can be reached at smassey@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1174. )

[Evergrey]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_484604.html

$5.3B deal to benefit Western Pa.

By Bonnie Pfister
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, December 17, 2006


An economic boom half a world away is rippling across Western Pennsylvania.
Westinghouse Electric Co. Saturday beat out France's Areva to win a far-reaching contract to design nuclear power plants for energy-hungry China.

Anticipated for two years, the four-plant deal was announced yesterday in Beijing by Westinghouse CEO Steve Tritch after 10 days of negotiations with government officials. Bloomberg News in Asia reported the contract is worth $5.3 billion. Earlier reports had anticipated the value at $8 billion.

Westinghouse spokesman Vaughn Gilbert would only confirm that it was a multibillion-dollar deal. He said final details are still being negotiated.





"This is really good news," Gilbert said. "The design of the plant, the procurement, the instrumentation and control equipment all comes from (Western Pennsylvania). We also have suppliers here that will benefit as well."

Plants using the Monroeville firm's new AP1000 design are smaller, safer and less expensive to build than previous nuclear power plants, and can generate enough power to electrify 880,000 homes, Westinghouse officials say. Construction of the Chinese plants is to begin early next year, with operation projected by 2013.

The contract will mean the hiring of about 5,000 high-paid workers across the United States by Westinghouse and its Baton Rouge partner, The Shaw Group, Gilbert said. The number includes at least 1,000 nuclear engineers whom Westinghouse already planned to add to its Western Pennsylvania work force of about 3,000. The company will decide early next year whether to expand its facilities along Northern Pike or construct a building in Cranberry, Butler County.

Even without the Chinese contract -- part of an effort by the world's most populous nation to build 30 reactors over the next 15 years -- Westinghouse was at the forefront of what industry leaders call a "nuclear renaissance."

The company plans to pursue contracts in India after that nation finalizes a plan with Washington -- perhaps in 2007 -- to share civilian nuclear technology.

And the once-controversial power source is back in vogue in the United States, as concerns mount over the environmental hazards of coal-burning power plants.

Eighteen new nuclear facilities are planned by U.S. utilities -- with at least a dozen of them using Westinghouse's AP1000 technology.

"Five years ago, I would have said every utility would want to build the seventh or eighth plant, after others had already been through the learning curve," said Larry Foulke, a retired engineer with Bechtel Bettis Inc. in West Mifflin and ex-president of the American Nuclear Society. "But now I see them all racing to see who can be first."

More than half of the United States' electricity is generated by coal -- which, although relatively inexpensive, emits carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas causing global warming, according to the federal Energy Information Administration. Fifteen percent of the nation's plants are fueled by natural gas, the price of which more than tripled between 2000 and early 2006.

Nuclear energy supplies 20 percent of the nation's electricity though 103 facilities, but a new plant hasn't been commissioned in 30 years. Although the 1979 meltdown at Three Mile Island near Harrisburg resulted in no deaths or serious injuries, it helped dull enthusiasm for a technology already plagued by years of delays in building power plants.

Foulke credited the Energy Policy Act of 2005 -- with its loan guarantees, production tax credits and partial reimbursement against regulatory delays for builders of nuclear plants -- for spurring the boom.

But others say there are plenty of reasons to be skeptical. The price of uranium, the fuel used to create nuclear power, has increased nearly 80 percent this year. A major Canadian mine collapsed in October and is expected to be out of commission for three years. The preferred fuel, enriched uranium, is supplied largely by Russia, which "downblends" uranium from its old nuclear weapons, meaning U.S. energy independence is not assured.

Then there's the matter of nuclear waste's radioactivity. Aside from finding a safe place to store the spent fuel, an accident or terrorist attack breaching the concrete and steel walls surrounding a reactor could be deadly.

Edwin Lyman, senior staff scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the package of incentives to the industry far outweighs those given to safer renewable alternatives such as solar and wind power.

"We don't think a headlong rush to greatly expand nuclear power, abetted by government subsidies, will have the desired result," Lyman said. "It's not clear that it's is going to be the lowest-cost option in a truly competitive marketplace."

He said the 2005 law curtails the level of scrutiny local communities can bring to the process, and worried that Westinghouse's streamlined AP1000 plants might lack the safety redundancies needed in the event of an emergency.

Gilbert said among the AP1000's safety features are "passive" systems that would send cooling water into the reactor core without human intervention.

"In the unlikely event of a terrorist situation, the core would take care of itself for an ample period of time until authorities are able to retake control," Gilbert said.

Gilbert Brown, head of the nuclear engineering program at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, said the three decades without construction gave plant designers and operators time to improve safety.

"You can imagine a lot of worst-case scenarios," Brown said. "There are growing pains, as there were for innovations such as steamboats, locomotives and airplanes. You get used to them, and then you wonder why everyone was scared."



Bonnie Pfister can be reached at bpfister@tribweb.com.

[wrightchr]

It's intra-metro squabbles like this that show how regionalizing government is desperately needed, but may never come to fruition.

great statement...and *so* very true!

[Evergrey]

http://www.popcitymedia.com/timnews/42westingchina.aspx

December 20, 2006
5000 jobs expected from Westinghouse deal for 4 nuclear power plants in China
Westinghouse was selected to build four nuclear power plants in China in a multi-billion dollar deal that should be finalized within the next few months. “We’re obviously very pleased,” says Vaughan Gilbert, Westinghouse spokersperson, who says building for the first plant should occur later in 2007. “They’re going to build at least 20 (plants) over the next 15 years, so we expect to participate more in that,” he says.


Westinghouse has been hiring in anticipation of the deal. “We’re estimating that these four plants will create or sustain 5000 jobs, many high tech as well as trade manufacturing jobs,” says Gilbert who says the jobs will extend to at least 20 states through suppliers that Westinghouse uses, including a number in Pittsburgh.


Although he couldn't give a number, Gilbert says that since the Westinghouse plant is here, there will be a “significant impact in Pittsburgh.” As previously reported in Pop City, the company is currently pursuing the building of more nuclear plants in 11 other countries. --TC

Source: Vaughan Gilbert, Westinghouse

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06363/749784-54.stm

Resolution supports creation of tax-free zone for Westinghouse
Friday, December 29, 2006

By Karen Kane, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



A resolution adopted yesterday by Butler County commissioners supporting the possible creation of a tax-free zone in Cranberry was the outgrowth of a closed-door meeting convened last week by Westinghouse Electric executives at the company's Monroeville campus.

Similar resolutions are expected soon from all of the taxing bodies involved in Westinghouse's pending decision to expand in Cranberry or at its current headquarters in Monroeville, said company spokesman Vaughn Gilbert.

"Our indications are that the [tax incentive program] would be accepted by all the parties. That is essential to the process,'' Mr. Gilbert said yesterday.

He confirmed that Westinghouse executives convened separate meetings Dec. 19 with contingents from Allegheny County and Butler County to discuss the company's expansion plans. He said both groups were told a final decision would be made by March 15, though he said the company hopes to come to a quicker conclusion.

The resolution adopted yesterday by Butler County Commissioners was drafted by Cranberry Manager Jerry Andree in response to a specific request from the company and representatives of the governor's office. Copies are to be adopted by Cranberry supervisors and the Seneca Valley School District at separate public meetings Jan. 2 and Jan. 8, respectively.

While the resolution does not guarantee Westinghouse that each of the taxing bodies will ultimately approve the creation of the Strategic Development Area that has been promoted by the state for Westinghouse, it pledges consideration of the 15-year tax-free zone and commits "to work cooperatively and timely with each other ... and Westinghouse."

Both the state House and Senate gave their overwhelming support to the tax incentive program and Gov. Ed Rendell signed the legislation establishing the special district in November as an inducement to Westinghouse to pick Pennsylvania for a planned expansion of its nuclear business. The firm already employs about 3,000 in Monroeville and between 1,000 and 2,000 more jobs are to be added as part of the company's expansion plan.

For the development district to work as envisioned, though, all taxing bodies including the county, school district and local municipality must sign on to the program. The state has agreed to relinquish receipt of sales taxes, corporate net income taxes, and capital stock and franchise taxes.

Mr. Andree said he has heard indications from elected officials and administrators that most of those in Butler County who would be asked to vote on the tax-free program would vote in favor.

"We've been dealing with the governor's economic people for months and we all understand the importance of keeping Westinghouse in Pennsylvania. We're all on the same page here. There's little decision to make,'' he said, noting he believes there would be unanimous support from Cranberry supervisors though the township has never before enacted a tax-incentive program for any business.

Likewise, Monroeville spokesman Joel Palaschak said municipal staff and officials of Gateway School District have been discussing the Westinghouse plans and "I know Monroeville has been doing what it can to keep Westinghouse here."

Monroeville council's next public meeting is Jan. 9. Mr. Palaschak said an agenda has not yet been drafted so he doesn't know whether a resolution regarding the district will be presented.

Government and economic leaders from Allegheny and Butler counties were invited to separate meetings with Westinghouse officials Dec. 19, during which they were asked to approve resolutions of support by Jan. 15.

The company had confirmed earlier this month that it had narrowed its search to two possible sites: Cranberry Woods in Cranberry and its existing corporate campus in Monroeville.

Though officials from Allegheny County have been vocal in demanding that Westinghouse remain and expand in Monroeville, counterparts to the north have been careful to make no public statement that could be perceived as competitive in tone.

In fact, the resolution approved yesterday by Butler County commissioners notes: " ... [T]his resolution shall not be considered as any attempt to attract Westinghouse Electric Co. from its current location in the Municipality of Monroeville, but, is in response to the Westinghouse Electric Co. and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania request to allow the site selection process to move forward to stay in southwest Pennsylvania."



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(Karen Kane can be reached at kkane@post-gazette.com or 724-772-9180. )

[Ex-Ithacan]

I guess I can understand the economics of the situation, but I still feel it's a shame that a company can dictate to a city/county/state what it will and will not do with the threat of leaving. Sounds a bit like blackmail. But that's the world today and I guess Westinghouse is at least staying while adding high paying jobs (which will provide some taxes) and not departing for a foreign country where there would be zero benefits from an expansion. Life in the days of global economy. Just grin and bear it.

[Evergrey]

totally agreed, Ex_Ithacan

[themaguffin]

These jobs coming anywhere to the region is incredible news. However, these jobs setting up show in an area that isn't Cranverry or Southpointe would be even better. It would be great to see Allegheny county get the boost....