Hitachi Reactor to Enter U.K. Testing

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -- The latest entrant to the promising U.K. nuclear sector has announced that its reactor design is to be assessed by Office for Nuclear Regulation and the Environment Agency.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has announced that Hitachi Ltd's (Tokyo, Japan) Advanced Boiling Water Reactor is to undergo Generic Design Assessment (GDA) before the company can move ahead with plans to build up to six new nuclear reactors.

Hitachi entered the new nuclear build race in October when it bought the Horizon Nuclear Power joint venture for €863 million ($1.1 billion). For additional information, see October 31, 2012 article - RWE and E.ON Sell U.K. Nuclear Venture.

Horizon, a joint venture created by German energy giants RWE AG (OTC:RWEOY) (Essen, Germany) and E.ON AG (OTC:EONGY) (Dusseldorf, Germany), owns the rights to develop up to 6,000-megawatts (MW) of new nuclear projects at Wylfa in Anglesey and Oldbury in Gloucestershire. However, last March both companies decided to exit the U.K. nuclear sector and sell Horizon. For additional information, see March 30, 2012 article - RWE and E.ON Drop U.K. Nuclear Power Joint Venture.

"New nuclear has a central role to play in our energy future, delivering secure, low carbon power and supporting jobs and economic growth," explained John Hayes, Minister of State for Energy. "Hitachi's commitment to the U.K. is extremely welcome, and I am determined that we work closely with the company to deliver their planned investment. We must however be absolutely sure that any reactor used in this country meets our rigorous safety standards. That's why I'm asking the Office for Nuclear Regulation and the Environment Agency to conduct a thorough examination of the reactor design proposed for the Wylfa and Oldbury sites."

Hitachi claimed that its AWBR is the "only Generation III + reactor" currently operational globally, with four ABWRs in Japan, and three others under construction in Japan and Taiwan.

Masaharu Hanyu, Vice President and Executive Officer, CEO, Nuclear Power Systems, Power Systems Company, Hitachi Ltd. added: "Today's announcement from the Minister of State marks the start of an important process for the ABWR, for Hitachi-GE and for Horizon Nuclear Power. The U.K. GDA is a rigorous and thorough process and we look forward to having our initial discussions with the regulators. The ABWR is a proven reactor design, which has been constructed to time and budget at four locations in Japan, and is also licensed in the USA and Taiwan. We look forward to making sustained progress with the regulators in the months ahead".

The U.K. nuclear regulator granted approval last month for the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR), designed by Areva S.A. (EPA:CEI) (Paris, France) and Electricite de France S.A. (EPA:EDF) (EDF) (Paris, France) to be used in future nuclear projects. For additional information, see December 19, 2012 article - EPR Nuclear Reactor Cleared by U.K..

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