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CONTINGENCIES AND COMMITMENTS
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
CONTINGENCIES AND COMMITMENTS
. CONTINGENCIES AND COMMITMENTS

Legal Proceedings

The Corporation has been named in a number of lawsuits that allege injury from exposure to asbestos. To date, the Corporation has not been found liable for or paid any material sum of money in settlement in any case. The Corporation believes its minimal use of asbestos in its past and current operations and the relatively non-friable condition of asbestos in its products makes it unlikely that it will face material liability in any asbestos litigation, whether individually or in the aggregate. The Corporation maintains insurance coverage for these potential liabilities and believes adequate coverage exists to cover any unanticipated asbestos liability.

In December 2013, the Corporation, along with other unaffiliated parties, received a claim, from Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL) filed in the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta, Judicial District of Calgary. The claim pertains to a January 2011 fire and explosion at a delayed coker unit at its Fort McMurray refinery that resulted in the injury of five CNRL employees, damage to property and equipment, and various forms of consequential loss such as loss of profit, lost opportunities, and business interruption. The fire and explosion occurred when a CNRL employee bypassed certain safety controls and opened an operating coker unit. The total quantum of alleged damages arising from the incident has not been finalized, but is estimated to meet or exceed $1 billion.  The Corporation maintains various forms of commercial, property and casualty, product liability, and other forms of insurance; however, such insurance may not be adequate to cover the costs associated with a judgment against us. The Corporation is currently unable to estimate an amount or range of potential losses, if any, from this matter. The Corporation believes it has adequate legal defenses and intends to defend this matter vigorously. The Corporation's financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows, could be materially affected during a future fiscal quarter or fiscal year by unfavorable developments or outcome regarding this claim.

The Corporation is party to a number of legal actions and claims, none of which individually or in the aggregate, in the opinion of management, are expected to have a material effect on the Corporation’s results of operations or financial position.

Letters of Credit and Other Arrangements

The Corporation enters into standby letters of credit agreements and guarantees with financial institutions and customers primarily relating to guarantees of repayment, future performance on certain contracts to provide products and services, to secure advance payments from certain international customers, and to guarantee repayment of outstanding debt obligations held by certain subsidiaries. At December 31, 2014 and 2013, there were $54.3 million and $47.2 million in of stand-by letters of credit outstanding, respectively, and $20.7 million and $23.2 million of bank guarantees outstanding, respectively.  In addition, the Corporation is required to provide the Nuclear Regulatory Commission financial assurance demonstrating its ability to cover the cost of decommissioning its Cheswick, Pennsylvania facility upon closure, though the Corporation does not intend to close this facility.  The Corporation has provided this financial assurance in the form of a $52.9 million surety bond.

AP1000 Program

Within the Corporation’s Defense segment, our Electro-Mechanical Division is the reactor coolant pump (RCP) supplier for the Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear power plants under construction in China and the United States.  The terms of the AP1000 China and United States contracts include liquidated damage provisions for failure to meet contractual delivery dates if the Corporation caused the delay and the delay was not excusable. The Corporation would be liable for liquidated damages if the Corporation was deemed responsible for not meeting the delivery dates. On October 10, 2013, the Corporation received a letter from Westinghouse stating entitlements to the maximum amount of liquidated damages allowable under the AP1000 China contract from Westinghouse of approximately $25 million.  As of December 31, 2014, the Corporation has not met certain contractual delivery dates under its AP 1000 China and US contracts; however, there are significant counterclaims and uncertainties as to which parties are responsible for the delays.  Given the uncertainties surrounding the parties responsible for the delays, no accrual has been made for this matter.  As of December 31, 2014, the range of possible loss for liquidated damages is $0 to $40 million.