nuclear-news

Japan desperate to sell nuclear reactors overseas

Reactor makers look abroad as home market fizzles , Japan Times,  BY KAZUAKI NAGATA 10 Sept 13,  The Fukushima meltdowns and the continuing radiation crisis may have turned the public off of atomic energy at home, but it’s full steam ahead for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Japan’s heavy industries when it comes to exporting that technology to power-hungry economies abroad.

The marketing push being led by Abe and his Liberal Democratic Party, which brought Japan into the nuclear age, has angered nuclear protest groups, which, like many members of the public, blame the party’s cozy ties with big business for setting the stage for the Fukushima meltdown debacle.

Here are some questions and answers about Japan’s nuclear technology exports: How does the process of exporting nuclear plants work?

Landing a contract to build an atomic plant overseas is more complex than a typical business deal because it requires political involvement: The governments of the exporting and host nations must conclude a nuclear cooperation pact to ensure the technology will only be used for peaceful purposes………What nuclear cooperation pacts has Japan joined?

The country to date has entered accords with the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, China, the European Atomic Energy Community (consisting of 28 EU members), Kazakhstan, South Korea, Vietnam, Jordan and Russia.

Abe has recently signed pacts with Turkey and the United Arab Emirates that will be finalized once they are approved by the Diet.

Japan is also approaching Brazil, South Africa and India.

Has Japan been exporting reactors?

Not yet. Japan hasn’t exported a single domestically built reactor yet because it’s a late-comer to the global nuclear power market.

That changed quickly in October 2006, when Toshiba Corp. succeeded with its blockbuster acquisition of U.S.-based reactor maker Westinghouse Electric Co., kicking off a string of other tie-ups with Japanese companies……..

Japan has three major reactor makers — Toshiba, Hitachi and MHI, who are all looking to expand overseas. The three firms are partnering with overseas makers to get ahead of the competition.

Toshiba bought Westinghouse, Hitachi is allied with U.S. giant General Electric Co., and Mitsubishi Heavy is working with Areva SA, France’s biggest nuclear power company.

South Korea has Doosan Heavy Industries, while Russia runs the state-owned Rosatom Nuclear Energy State Corp…… Since there is little likelihood of new reactors being built, reactor makers are looking to sell their technology abroad while maintaining state-of-the-art equipment, but this means engaging in more atomic diplomacy to forge cooperation pacts.

Then there’s the matter of competition, not only among themselves but from their Korean and Russian rivals as well…..http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/09/09/reference/reactor-makers-look-abroad-as-home-market-fizzles/#.Ui9h69JwonE

September 10, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, marketing