CRANBERRY TWP — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a safety certificate for Westinghouse Electric Co.’s AP1000 pressurized water reactor.

Westinghouse changed part of the reactor design, so it had to take the new reactor through the federal safety certification process for a second time.

“We’re in the home stretch to receive final approval of the amended AP1000 design,” said Aris Candris, president and CEO of Westinghouse, in a news release.

“We’re happy that the NRC technical staff has approved the amended design and confident that the NRC Commissioners will do the same so construction of AP1000 units can begin here in the U.S.”

Some of the reactor modifications include the NCR’s requirement that the reactor be able to withstand a direct crash of a plane or other aircraft.

The shield building, a steel reinforced concrete structure that’s about 3-feet thick, protects the steel containment vessel that houses the reactor vessel.

Both the shield building and the containment vessel play significant roles in the passive safety systems of the AP1000 design, which allow it to safely shutdown with no, or minimal operator action and no AC electricity, the release said.

Utilities in Georgia, South Carolina and Florida have picked the AP1000 for use in their plants.