nuclear-news

Dwindling future prospects for Japanese nuclear companies

Even as they face a shrinking domestic market amid slow restarts of nuclear plants shut down following the 2011 Fukushima disaster, Hitachi, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Toshiba are far apart on the integration plan, let alone acting on the recent suggestion that they consolidate their entire reactor businesses.

In a news conference on Oct. 27, Hitachi President and CEO Toshiaki Higashihara said, “Eventually there will be a time when you have to think about the entire picture, not just the fuel business.”………..

In Japan, there are only three reactors currently operating — Kyushu Electric Power‘s Sendai nuclear power station’s unit Nos. 1 and 2 in Kagoshima Prefecture and Shikoku Electric Power‘s Ikata nuclear power station’s unit No. 3 in Ehime Prefecture.

Prospects for getting more operating remain unclear, especially after a court issued an injunction blocking the restart of reactors at the Takahama nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture.

Under the circumstances, the idea of building a new reactor in Japan is seen as nearly impossible, as distant as a “dream that was dreamed in a dream,” said a Mitsubishi Heavy official.

Myriad roadblocks

While the companies managed to start talks on integrating their fuel businesses, differences in designs present an even higher hurdle for integrating reactor businesses.

Mitsubishi Heavy has focused on pressurized water reactors, which account for 70% of the world’s operating nuclear reactors. However, boiling water reactors are the mainstay of Hitachi’s and Toshiba’s nuclear technology.

Related companies

Hitachi Ltd., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., Toshiba Corp., Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc., Shikoku Electric Power Co., Inc., ITOCHU Corp.   http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/Japan-companies-face-obstacles-to-consolidate-nuclear-business

November 11, 2016 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Japan