CONTINGENCIES AND COMMITMENTS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

CONTINGENCIES AND COMMITMENTS

19. CONTINGENCIES AND COMMITMENTS

In the ordinary course of business, the Corporation and its subsidiaries are subject to various pending claims, lawsuits, and contingent liabilities. The Corporation does not believe that the disposition of any of these matters, individually or in the aggregate, will have a material adverse effect on its consolidated financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

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 asbestos-related case. The Corporation believes its minimal use of asbestos in its past operations and the relatively non-friable condition of asbestos in its products make 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. The Corporation is party to a number of other 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, and to secure advance payments from certain international customers. As of December 31, 2020 and 2019, there were $21.1 million and $32.6 million of stand-by letters of credit outstanding, respectively, and $5.6 million and $10.8 million of bank guarantees outstanding, respectively.  

The Corporation, through its Electro-Mechanical Division (EMD) business unit, has three Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) radioactive materials licenses that are utilized in the continued operation of the EMD business. In connection with these licenses, the Corporation has known conditional asset retirement obligations related to asset decommissioning activities to be performed in the future, when the Corporation terminates these licenses. For two of the three licenses, the Corporation has recorded an asset retirement obligation of approximately $7.8 million. For its third license, the Corporation has not recorded an asset retirement obligation as it is not reasonably estimable due to insufficient information about the timing and method of settlement of the obligation. Accordingly, this obligation has not been recorded in the Consolidated Financial Statements. A liability for this obligation will be recorded in the period when sufficient information regarding timing and method of settlement becomes available to make a reasonable estimate of the liability’s fair value. 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 $45.6 million surety bond.

AP1000 Program

Within the Corporation’s Power segment, EMD is the RCP supplier for the WEC AP1000 nuclear power plants in China and the United States.  The terms of the AP1000 China and U.S. 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 WEC stating entitlements to the maximum amount of liquidated damages allowable under the AP1000 China contract from WEC of approximately $25 million.  As of December 31, 2020, the Corporation has not met certain contractual delivery dates under its AP1000 U.S. and China contracts; however, there are significant counterclaims and uncertainties as to which parties are responsible for the delays. In January 2021, the Corporation and WEC agreed to participate in formal non-binding mediation. The Corporation believes that the ultimate resolution of the matter will not have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements. As of December 31, 2020, the range of possible loss for these two matters is $0 to $55.5 million.