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CONTINGENCIES AND COMMITMENTS | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2017
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
CONTINGENCIES AND COMMITMENTS | 18. 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 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. 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. In October 2017, all parties agreed in principle to participate in a formal mediation in late 2018 with the intention of settling this claim. In an effort to induce the parties to participate in the formal mediation, CNRL agreed to reduce its claim to approximately $400 million, which reflects the monetary amount of property damage incurred as a result of the fire and explosion. The Corporation is currently unable to estimate an amount, or range of potential losses, if any, from this matter. The Corporation believes that 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 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. WEC Bankruptcy On March 29, 2017, WEC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, Case No. 17-10751. The Bankruptcy Court overseeing the Bankruptcy Case has approved, on an interim basis, an $800 million Debtor-in-Possession Financing Facility to help WEC finance its business operations during the reorganization process. On January 4, 2018, WEC announced that it had agreed to be acquired by Brookfield Business Partners L.P for approximately $4.6 billion with the acquisition expected to close in the third quarter of 2018. The acquisition is not expected to have a material impact on the Corporation’s financial condition or results of operations as WEC plans to continue operating in the ordinary course of business under existing senior management. The Corporation had approximately $4.9 million in pre-petition billings outstanding with WEC as of December 31, 2017. On January 29, 2018, the Corporation received notice that WEC filed its Plan of Reorganization. Under the Plan, the Corporation is expected to recover substantially all of its general unsecured claims, including pre-petition billings. The Plan of Reorganization is subject to approval, with voting tentatively scheduled for March 15, 2018. As it relates to post-petition work, the Corporation will continue to honor its executory contracts and expects to collect all amounts due. The Corporation will continue to monitor and evaluate the status of the WEC bankruptcy and Plan of Reorganization for potential impacts on its business. 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, 2017 and 2016, there were $21.3 million and $47.2 million of stand-by letters of credit outstanding, respectively, and $14.6 million and $12.8 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 $7.4 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 $56.0 million surety bond. AP1000 Program Within the Corporation’s Power segment, the Electro-Mechanical Division is the RCP supplier for the WEC AP1000 nuclear power plants under construction 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, 2017, 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. The Corporation believes it has adequate legal defenses and intends to vigorously defend this matter. Given the uncertainties surrounding the responsibility for the delays, no accrual has been made for this matter as of December 31, 2017. As of December 31, 2017, the range of possible loss is $0 million to $31 million for the AP1000 U.S. contract, for a total range of possible loss of $0 to $55.5 million.

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