Strange deal, I read the US import export bank financed the deal to the tune of 5 Billion Dollars.
Japan selling US nuke technology to China. Go Figure?
Posted on 12/16/2006 12:20:01 PM PST by pleikumud
Greed. Considered a sin by some.
If this had been 1938,these same corporate elitists would have been building gas chambers for Hitler.
I don't understand your point. What is it?
I read an article in the newpaper a few days ago (St. Petersburg Times, a wholly leftist rag) that Progress Energy proposed building a nuclear plant north of Tarpon Springs ... I believe there are others being planned as well.
Are you sure those 5,000 jobs will be created here, Secretary Bodman?
Nevertheless, not to worry investors of Japan and America, American taxpayer-backed Ex-Im Bank will pay if China does not. Don't ya just hate government interference -- I mean, like how can capitalism succeed. . . .
Ex-Im Bank press release
http://www.exim.gov/pressrelease.cfm/26B570EA-CA86-5AD7-1905AF49748D2881/
"The preliminary commitment [guaranteed and/or direct loans of up to almost $5 billion to support export sales to construct four nuclear power plants at two sites in the Peoples Republic of China] is being issued in conjunction with a bid by the exporters that will be delivered in response to a "Request for Proposals" issued by the Government of China. Westinghouse is proposing to utilize its groundbreaking AP1000 1000-megawatt pressurized water reactor design, which incorporates key passive safety and other features. Aggressive competition is expected from companies from other countries, along with the support of their respective governments."
What a deal, Comrade! All that power, technology transfer, jobs -- and we don't even have to pay if we don't want to! We can do a Dabhol Power plant thing!
--So, I wonder how many nuclear power plants are currently under construction in the United States. Zero?--
Most of the US plants are/have been refurbished with new major components extending their useful lifetimes. Many have also obtain power uprates above their original licensed power. Keeping a lot of grey-haired contractors that originally built the plants presently employed.
Provided the rip-offs have any kind of safety record at all, China will then proceed to sell the stolen design plus whatever modifications they made, on the open market to other countries.
--Combustion Engineering (Now ABB): 10%-
Combustion Engineering >> ABB >> Westinghouse >> Toshiba
We've been trading our assets for cheap consumer goods for some time. Did anybody really think Westinghouse was an American firm?
Look, they've already got the bomb. A few billions in power plant technology will help the ol' trade deficit, I say.
--A few billions in power plant technology will help the ol' trade deficit, I say.--
We used to build nuclear power plant components. Now we are refurbishing our plants with components built in Japan.
"Combustion Engineering >> ABB >> Westinghouse >> Toshiba"
Yep, thanks for the correction!
Business Week, December 16, 2006
U.S.-based Westinghouse, which was purchased by Japan's Toshiba Corp. earlier this year, had been vying with the French nuclear group AREVA and Russia's AtomStroyExport to win the lucrative contract for building facilities at Sanmen, in the eastern province of Zhejiang, and at Yangjiang in southern China's Guangdong province.
yitbos
Strange deal, I read the US import export bank financed the deal to the tune of 5 Billion Dollars.
Japan selling US nuke technology to China. Go Figure?
You must remember that the Congress is largely a reactive body. The pressure from the nay sayers was intense, well organized and very loud. It took time and change for the pressure to dissapate. In that thime there was big change in the companies and some growth in the technology.
The big push by the Tennessee Valley authority was completely blocked. Noe however, one of the first new plants is said to be going in at the Hartsville site.
I can't deny that sooner might have been better but will argue that the current methods are better and quicker and could result in more smaller units quicker.
The industry died the death of a thousand cuts. The many razors are now gone and the bleeding is stopped.
There are over 20 nuke plants in one stage of planning or another in the United States.
Licsensing is a little tougher in the United States. However the China deal will certainly move things along in the United States. Expect an announcement for a new plant in the US before 2008.
Westinghouse began work on the AP1000 well before it was acquired by BNFL (British Nuclear Fuels LTD). The China deal was significantly completed before Westinghouse was purchased by Toshiba. The China deal was a significant factor in driving up the price that Toshiba paid for Westinghouse from an expected $2B(US) to over $5B(US).
The Chinese will have the AP1000 reactors. These are not pebble bed reactors, but they are the next generation of nuclear power plant. They use passive safety systems and will use the best materials and designs known at present. They are the Cadillac of power plants.
Pebble bed reactors are still in development. Pebble bed reactors are modular (you can add-on units to keep up with demand) and cannot experience a meltdown. By the time China has learned how to build/operate/maintain an AP1000, we will be building pebble bed reactors.
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