PaR Nuclear History

PaR Nuclear is a subsidiary of Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC. The company began in 1961 as Programmed and Remote Systems, a "spin-off" of General Mills, by a group of four engineers and public investors that raised $312,000 by a public stock offering of $1 per share. The company specialized in electro-mechanical manipulators, manual manipulators, and nuclear Fuel-handling Equipment. A second public offering in 1976 raised another $2,750,000 and provided the financial security to carry the company into other markets by acquiring additional product lines such as Mill Liner Handlers and Radio Controllers to operate heavy equipment.

The commercial nuclear industry was expanding with new plants being built and PaR began working with the major suppliers for the growing nuclear market. The first large-scale supply for a complete Fuel-handling System was received in 1966 from Combustion Engineering (CE) for the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station. PaR has supplied Fuel-handling Equipment for CE-designed plants including the latest units currently being built in South Korea. In 1972, General Electric Nuclear Energy awarded PaR with the first of 45 BWR platforms and subsequently awarded a contract for 3 Advanced Boiling Water Reactors (ABWR) refueling platforms in Taiwan.

Ederer Nuclear Cranes History

In 1901 Edward P. Ederer, who had come from the Midwest to operate a net and twine manufacturing business, bought a milling machine to service his European-made net and twine-making machinery. The milling machine, a Cincinnati No. 1 Universal, brought in so much outside work that Ederer converted his net and twine business into what became the Ederer crane business.

In its early years, Ederer moved into the design and manufacture of heavy crane equipment including overhead bridge cranes, with much of the equipment produced for the forest products industry. During and after World War II, Ederer expanded its sales of bridge cranes into industrial applications and became a major player in the industry, particularly in production of custom-designed, special-purpose cranes both nationally and overseas. The focus on special-purpose crane equipment led to Ederer's entry into the nuclear power generation field. Ederer's earliest cranes for nuclear power plants were delivered in the late 1960s. The firm remained active in nuclear plant cranes, service, and upgrades in the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, Mexico, Korea, and Taiwan even after the cessation of new plant construction in the U.S. during the 1980s and beyond. In 1976 the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued guidelines for "single-failure-proof" cranes for nuclear power plants. The challenge to the industry was to design cranes that could safely retain the full rated load following a failure in the hoisting equipment, and also withstand the plant design basis earthquake while holding the rated load. Ederer led the crane industry in response to this need by developing and obtaining generic NRC acceptance of a revolutionary design known as X-SAM^®. The protective features of this system exceed the minimum NRC guidelines and protect the user against virtually any equipment problem, whether caused by a defective component, operator error, or maintenance mistake. Ederer has delivered more than 125 cranes to nuclear power plants. Ederer and its X-SAM licensees have delivered more than 100 X-SAM units.

On December 31, 2002, Ederer, Inc. was acquired by PaR Systems, Inc. in Shoreview, Minn.

PaR Nuclear Growth

PaR has worked with Westinghouse Electric Company since the mid-1970s. Many foreign and domestic nuclear plants built by Westinghouse have PaR Fuel-handling Equipment installed. Multiple government-owned research facilities operated by Westinghouse Electric Company were supplied with PaR manipulators and specialized material-handling equipment to process radioactive materials. This long relationship progressed until Westinghouse purchased PaR Systems’ nuclear operation in 2004. PaR Nuclear, a wholly owned subsidiary of Westinghouse Electric Company LLC, provides the nuclear markets the world over with the latest fuel-handling equipment and automated controls technology.

1901 – Ederer Crane established in Seattle, Washington

1961 - Programmed and Remote Systems

• Spin-off of General Mills
• Remote manipulators and nuclear fuel-handling equipment

• Mill Liner Handlers introduced