Westinghouse's Bankruptcy Unlikely to Affect more than $31 Billion in U.S. Nuclear Projects

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Westinghouse Electric Company, a U.S.-based nuclear power plant developer majority-owned by Toshiba, is hearing proposals for a financing package to help it through a coming bankruptcy, according to Reuters and other sources. Industrial Info is tracking $38.5 billion in active projects involving Westinghouse that could be affected by the bankruptcy, including four nuclear power plants in the U.S. Southeast, the largest nuclear power plant planned in the U.K., and a major project under construction in China.

But the effects wouldn't necessarily be negative. According to Reuters, Toshiba and Westinghouse are proposing a "debtor-in-possession" loan of roughly $500 million, which would allow Westinghouse to continue to build four nuclear power plants in Georgia and South Carolina, which have been commissioned by local utility companies. More than $31 billion of the Westinghouse projects tracked by Industrial Info are based in the U.S.

Nonetheless, Southern Company (NYSE:SO) (Atlanta, Georgia) and SCANA Corporation (NYSE:SCG) (Cayce, South Carolina) already have hired restructuring advisors to map out a strategy for recovering cost overruns at Southern's $16.2 billion in additions at the Alvin W. Vogtle Nuclear Power Station in Waynesboro, Georgia, and SCANA's $15 billion in additions at the Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Power Station in Jenkinsville, South Carolina, according to Reuters. For details on these closely watched projects, including contact information and scheduling details, see Industrial Info's project reports for the Vogtle and Summer plants.

Toshiba told its main lenders it is planning for Westinghouse to file for bankruptcy on March 31, according to Forbes. Westinghouse contributed to a $6.3 billion loss at Toshiba last year, prompting Toshiba's chairman to resign and the company to sell part of its semi-conductor business to cover the losses.

In England, developers are worried that a bankruptcy could indefinitely delay NuGeneration Limited's (Manchester, England) $8.34 billion Moorside Nuclear Power Station in Cumbria, England, which is the largest nuclear power plant planned in the U.K. The project, which would generate up to 3.8 gigawatts (GW), would use three of Westinghouse's AP1000 reactors to drive three steam turbine generators, each of which has a capacity of about 1,266 MW. NuGeneration is a joint venture between Toshiba and ENGIE (Paris, France). For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

According to The Telegraph, a Westinghouse bankruptcy also could slow the U.K.'s plans to cut carbon emissions by encouraging 16 GW of new nuclear investment by 2030. The U.K. plans to retire more than two-thirds of its power-generation capacity before 2030, and a massive buildout in non-fossil-fuel technology is necessary to make up the difference.

Westinghouse could find a new home in China or South Korea, if Toshiba were to send it packing. Both countries are developing their own reactors for export, according to The Japan Times, and the region is home to about half the world's nuclear units under construction. China is forecast to have the largest fleet of reactors by the middle of the next decade, including three from Westinghouse that are under construction and set to be completed and in service this year.

Westinghouse has designed two pressurized water reactors for the $2.5 billion Haiyang Nuclear Power Station in Shandong, and another for the $2 billion Sanmen Nuclear Power Station in Zhejiang. The plants are expected to generate 2,500 and 1,250 MW, respectively. For more information, see Industrial Info's project reports on the Shandong and Zhejiang plants.

Industrial Info also is tracking more than $311 million in planned maintenance and refueling projects involving Westinghouse in the U.S., Germany and Switzerland.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com/.