nuclear-news

Toshiba-Westinghouse – A sinking ship? or sly manipulation?

“If Toshiba curtails or ends their nuclear division and Westinghouse both the US and UK lose one of their approved reactor designs. They would also lose ANY support services for existing Westinghouse units”

October 5th, 2012

This quietly began in July as Toshiba hired JP Morgan to find a buyer for the Westinghouse nuclear company they now own. The Times UK is reporting they do not have any potential buyers.

According to the Times Toshiba wants to quit the nuclear industry.  “Toshiba-Westinghouse wants to quit the nuclear industry altogether and is struggling to raise finance for the joint venture.”

Toshiba-Westinghouse was unable to secure financing for the build at Hinckley Point in the UK. Even their own country’s export bank denied them a loan. “Japan’s state-controlled export credit agency, JBIC, has refused to underwrite an estimated £4.3 billion capital raising planned by Toshiba because the country is also phasing out nuclear power after Fukushima.”

This put Toshiba-Westinghouse out of the running for this UK project unless they can come up with the funds themselves. The company is trying to sell off this division, can’t find any buyers and can’t find any investors. Theone reactor currently under construction in the US is an AP1000 reactor, the design Westinghouse owns. This was funded by forcing consumers to pre-pay for the cost of building the reactor. This highly controversial tacticis now in the court in FL over a similar program there that is attempting to raise funds for new reactors and repairs on a current unit.

If Toshiba curtails or ends their nuclear division and Westinghouse both the US and UK lose one of their approved reactor designs. They would also lose any support services for existing Westinghouse units.

http://www.simplyinfo.org/?p=7629

From the Westinghouse site

The technology of Westinghouse Nuclear Power Plants is the basis for nearly 50 percent of the world’s operating commercial nuclear power plants. The projects of Nuclear Power Plants are varied yet innovative, with customer-driven design and cost-efficient performance.

Nuclear Power Plants specializes in two major product lines:

New Nuclear Power Plants
Nuclear Power Plants provides the development and startup for new units worldwide. It is a leader in the design of advanced pressurized water reactor (PWR) systems. Exploring new technologies for tomorrow’s energy markets, Nuclear Power Plants is working with the U.S. government to enable the capital costs of new plants to be more competitive in the energy marketplace.

Component Manufacturing 
Nuclear Power Plants manufactures precision stainless steel components including reactor vessel internals, reactor coolant pumps, and control element drive mechanisms.

http://www.westinghousenuclear.com/ProductLines/Nuclear_Power_Plants/

October 6, 2012 - Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized