Posted on 12/29/2016 5:20:54 AM PST by RS_Rider
Toshiba Corp. shares plunged by the most on record as the once-heralded U.S. nuclear renaissance turns into a nightmare for the Japanese company.
The shares fell by 20 percent, the most since 1974, according to available data, to close at 312 yen in Tokyo following a 12 percent drop Tuesday.
Toshiba said it may have to write down billions related to an acquisition made by U.S. unit Westinghouse Electric that was geared toward completing the newest generation of reactors at two U.S. facilities. The projects, overseen by utilities Southern Co. and Scana Corp., are years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget.
Southern's nuclear expansion in Georgia and Scana's in South Carolina were once viewed as part of a rebirth of the U.S. atomic power industry, which hadn't seen a new reactor licensed in three decades. However, stumbles with those projects, the nuclear disaster in Fukushima and a flood of cheap natural gas that lowered U.S. power prices made new reactors increasingly expensive and risky.
“This is another reminder of how hard it is to predict how much new projects are going to cost,” said Kit Konolige, a utilities analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence. “That just makes it a higher hurdle for any new nuclear U.S. construction project. “
Westinghouse's purchase of contractor CB&I Stone & Webster Inc. resulted in a settlement with the utilities regarding legal disputes over construction delays and cost overruns. However, Westinghouse and CB&I have squabbled in court over how expensive the delays will be and who should pay for them.
(Excerpt) Read more at triblive.com ...
Whatever happened to Toshiba’s micro maintenance-free micro nuke plants? It sounded like a great idea.
Not that they are much in the consumer market anymore but we have been boycotting them since they gave away some secret stuff to the old Soviet Union. I think it was stuff about how to detect US nuclear subs. Ironic they are now being burned by nuclear reactors in the US.
I want my Mr. Fusion. Hollywood promised.
Murder is not committed with a pistol or a dagger. Nuclear murder is accomplished by a thousand small cuts
This is totally BS, totally biased reporting.
Toshiba’s stock price DID NOT FALL BECAUSE OF ITS NUCLEAR BUSINESS.
Toshiba’s stock price FELL BECAUSE TOSHIBA HAS BEEN COOKING ITS FINANCIAL BOOKS, falsifying its profits for years. It got caught and had to admit it publically.
“they gave away some secret stuff to the old Soviet Union”
I think it was 5-axis milling technology for submarine propellers.
I think it has something to do with
technology used to mill submarine propellers.
Had one bough 1,000 shares of SO (Southern Company) in 83 they’d be millionaires. The dividends are usually very good.
I was on the AP600 project in the early nineties. Westinghouse always had project management issues. Same with Adtranz which was once owned by Diamler after going through earlier changes of ownership. Bombardier, a mouse, swallowed Adtranz, a whale. Their stock went from the $30 dollar range down to $5 or less. The stock price never recovered.
Both failed at project management.
One is operational in China.
“One is operational in China”
I did a search and Wikipedia said that the first unit was 3 years behind schedule and was to be operational in 2017?
Had one bough 1,000 shares of SO (Southern Company) in 83 they’d be millionaires. The dividends are usually very good.
My mistake. Two are undergoing hot functional testing with startups planned for early 2017.
And I have never forgot it either. I don’t buy Toshiba stuff.
Why does Bloomberg think this is a “US nightmare”?
We’re talking about a Japanese company that is basically in trouble because the Japanese government scroooooood the pooch in how they dealt with Fukushima.
“Why does Bloomberg think this is a “US nightmare”?”
Maybe because of the jeopardy it puts Westinghouse in, not exactly sure.
Toshiba is on my Lifetime Boycott List.
Some things you just don’t come back from.
You are building something as inherently complex as a nuclear power plant and you cannot estimate local labor and material costs? WTF?
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