21 May (NucNet): Japan's Toshiba Corporation is hoping to receive
orders for 33 nuclear units by 2015 while more than doubling its
nuclear division's sales to 1 trillion yen (JPY) (9.6 billion US
dollars, 6.1 billion euro) by the middle of 2021, company president
Atsutoshi Nishida has said.
Mr Nishida said the company plans to invest JPY 50 billion at its plant in Keihnin, Japan, by the end of the 2010 financial year to improve manufacturing and construction capacity for nuclear units and equipment.
Explaining the company's plans for Westinghouse Electric, the US nuclear reactor builder that it purchased in 2006, Mr Nishida said preparations are being made in the US for applications for combined construction and operating licences (COLs) for 31 units by 15 electric power groups.
Sixteen of these applications will incorporate Toshiba's AP-1000 design and two will use its advanced boiling water reactor (ABWR).
The Toshiba Group has already received orders for six AP-1000 units in the US and four in China, but Mr Nishida said the company is trying to expand sales in countries such as South Africa and the UK.
Toshiba has received confirmed orders for two ABWR units in the US, Mr Nishida said. The company announced in March 2008 that it will invest 300 million US dollars (190 million euro) in a new company that will aim to build ABWR units in the US.
"As a group we can expect to receive orders for a total of 33 units by 2015, even looking at the situation a little conservatively," Mr Nishida said at a press conference in Tokyo.
Thanks to the healthy climate for nuclear power plant orders, Toshiba expects to recover the expenses it incurred when purchasing Westinghouse in 2013, four years ahead of its original target of 2017.
Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
Toshiba Completes Acquisition Of Westinghouse (World Nuclear Review No. 42, 20 October 2006)
Toshiba To Help With Two New South Texas Project Units (World Nuclear Review No. 32, 10 August 2007)
NRG Energy, Toshiba Form Venture To Build Nuclear Plants In US (News in Brief No. 35, 26 March 2008)
