Milk smells like TEPCO's yogurt, should I throw out Toshiba ABWRs?

Milk farmers in Fukushima nuclear zone
dump their product due to radiation
concerns

NRG Energy Inc. said Tuesday it will drop its plans to build two nuclear reactors in Texas. The announcement is the most tangible evidence, to date, of fallout in the U.S. from the nuclear accident in Japan.

NRG said its partner, Toshiba Corp., intends to go forward with efforts to garner permission to build reactors at the Texas site from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, meaning there is still a slight chance new reactors might eventually get built there. Toshiba was to furnish the reactors for the project, adjacent to NRG's existing South Texas Project nuclear plant.

Representatives for Toshiba couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

NRG said it will take a first quarter charge of $481 million to reflect the erosion in value of the project, managed by its nuclear subsidiary, Nuclear Innovation North America, which was seeking regulatory approvals.

The company had one of the most advanced nuclear projects in the U.S. and was negotiating a federal loan guarantee to help finance the reactors. But the project was hurt by the fact that NRG needed regulatory certainty before investing more funds and that now seems in doubt.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is conducting a safety review that is likely to last several months and David Crane, NRG's chief executive, said it is possible the review could lead to design changes or other changes that could increase the cost of the project.

In addition to using reactors designed by Toshiba, NRG was depending on financial assistance from Tokyo Electric Power Co. Inc., owner of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex in northeast Japan.
The Daiichi plant suffered a series of serious radioactive releases after an earthquake and subsequent tsunami cut off power to the plant on March 11.

Crane said neither Toshiba nor Tokyo Electric has said it wants out, but "there's no reason to believe our Japanese partners want to go forward, either. They haven't been calling us to reassure us."

Another problem, Crane said, was that the project lacked customers to buy power from the reactors under long-term contracts. Texas has a deregulated electricity market, so companies like NRG have no guaranteed customers, unlike utilities in traditionally regulated states. (by WSJ)

US NPPs in Operation

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Toshiba signs contract for South Texas ABWRs (25 February 2009)

An artist's impression of how STP 3 and 4 could look

Japan's Toshiba has signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for two Advanced Boiling Water Reactors (ABWRs) at the South Texas Project (STP).

 
Toshiba America Nuclear Energy Corp - a US-based subsidiary of Toshiba - signed the agreement with STP Nuclear Operating Co (STPNOC), operator of the STP plant. STPNOC was acting as agent for Nuclear Innovation North America LLC (Nina) and CPS Energy. Nina was formed last year as an ABWR nuclear development company jointly owned by NRG Energy and Toshiba.

Toshiba signed a project services agreement in 2007 for STP units 3 and 4, under which the company is carrying out key pre-engineering work and procuring major components with long lead times. In March 2008, Toshiba was selected by NRG and CPS Energy to be the prime contractor for the development of STP units 3 and 4. Toshiba said that its Westinghouse subsidiary is also expected to participate in the project.

The ABWR design is already in use at Tokyo Electric Power Co's (Tepco's) Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant, where two units started up in 1996 and 1997. Another is at Chubu Electric Power Company's Hamaoka site and two more are under construction at Lungmen on Taiwan.

The ABWR was developed jointly by GE, Toshiba and Hitachi, following on from GE's development of the BWR concept in the 1950s. The three firms partnered for build at Kashiwazaki Kariwa and Lungmen and now both GE-Hitachi (which merged their nuclear businesses in 2007) and Toshiba assert the right to build ABWRs. However, GE-Hitachi owns the very specific design certified for use in the USA by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

In September 2007, NRG and STPNOC filed with the NRC the first full application for a combined construction and operating licence (COL) for two 1358 MWe GE-Hitachi ABWRs to come on line in 2014-15 at the STP site. Nina intends to use the certified design, with a limited number of changes it said would enhance safety and construction schedules, and to file a revision to the original COL application. NRG said it believes that "the modest delay in licensing that is expected as a result of these revisions will be outweighed by the advantages the changes create in price and schedule certainty." Given the revisions to the COL application, NRG anticipates STP units 3 and 4 will come online in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

Yasuharu Igarashi, Toshiba's vice president, said: "We are very pleased to take our involvement in the STP units 3 and 4 projects to the next level." He added, "We look forward to working closely with STPNOC through our US subsidiary, and to establishing the ABWR as a key power generation option in the US."

The South Texas Project currently consists of two pressurized water reactors (PWRs), which together produce some 2700 MWe. The reactors were brought online in August 1988 and June 1989. The facility is operated by STPNOC and owned by NRG