GE and Hitachi Make Nuclear Joint Venture Official

I know we've mentioned this news before, but in case you missed the press release earlier this week:

GE and Hitachi, Ltd. have today completed the first half of their agreement to form a global alliance of their nuclear businesses, creating one of the world’s most comprehensive nuclear power plant and services operations that will compete for new reactor projects around the world.

The global business that will operate throughout the world, excluding Japan, is called “GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy” and officially began business today. It is 60% owned by GE and 40% by Hitachi, and will be led by the executives of GE’s current nuclear business.

In Japan, the business is planning to begin operations in early July and will be called “Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy.” It will be owned 80.01% by Hitachi and 19.99% by GE and will be led by the executives of Hitachi’s current nuclear business. All entities will share a joint advisory committee.

With climate change and energy security concerns driving a global resurgence in support for nuclear energy, GE and Hitachi are combining their nuclear businesses to become the world’s foremost provider of advanced boiling water reactor (BWR) plants and related services. The newly allied businesses will also offer key equipment and services for pressurized water reactors (PWRs), another light-water reactor design popular in certain countries.

“Our new alliance complements and optimizes GE’s and Hitachi’s respective strengths, allowing us to offer customers a broader portfolio of technology and services backed by the industry’s most extensive and experienced advanced reactor project development supply chain,” said John Krenicki, president and CEO of GE Energy.

Congratulations to both parties. Something tells me they're going to be very busy over the next few decades.

Comments

Wednesday Update

From NEI’s Japan micro-site: NRC, Industry Concur on Many Post-Fukushima Actions Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues • There is a “great deal of alignment” between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the industry on initial steps to take at America’s nuclear energy facilities in response to the nuclear accident in Japan, Charles Pardee, the chief operating officer of Exelon Generation Co., said at an agency briefing today. The briefing gave stakeholders an opportunity to discuss staff recommendations for near-term actions the agency may take at U.S. facilities. PowerPoint slides from the meeting are on the NRC website. • The International Atomic Energy Agency board has approved a plan that calls for inspectors to evaluate reactor safety at nuclear energy facilities every three years. Governments may opt out of having their country’s facilities inspected. Also approved were plans to maintain a rapid response team of experts ready to assist facility operators recoverin...

Fluor Invests in NuScale

You know, it’s kind of sad that no one is willing to invest in nuclear energy anymore. Wait, what? NuScale Power celebrated the news of its company-saving $30 million investment from Fluor Corp. Thursday morning with a press conference in Washington, D.C. Fluor is a design, engineering and construction company involved with some 20 plants in the 70s and 80s, but it has not held interest in a nuclear energy company until now. Fluor, which has deep roots in the nuclear industry, is betting big on small-scale nuclear energy with its NuScale investment. "It's become a serious contender in the last decade or so," John Hopkins, [Fluor’s group president in charge of new ventures], said. And that brings us to NuScale, which had run into some dark days – maybe not as dark as, say, Solyndra, but dire enough : Earlier this year, the Securities Exchange Commission filed an action against NuScale's lead investor, The Michael Kenwood Group. The firm "misap...

Activists' Claims Distort Facts about Advanced Reactor Design

Below is from our rapid response team . Yesterday, regional anti-nuclear organizations asked federal nuclear energy regulators to launch an investigation into what it claims are “newly identified flaws” in Westinghouse’s advanced reactor design, the AP1000. During a teleconference releasing a report on the subject, participants urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to suspend license reviews of proposed AP1000 reactors. In its news release, even the groups making these allegations provide conflicting information on its findings. In one instance, the groups cite “dozens of corrosion holes” at reactor vessels and in another says that eight holes have been documented. In all cases, there is another containment mechanism that would provide a barrier to radiation release. Below, we examine why these claims are unwarranted and why the AP1000 design certification process should continue as designated by the NRC. Myth: In the AP1000 reactor design, the gap between the shield bu...

NEI Nuclear Notes

Search This Blog