Welcome the newest player to Virginia’s nuclear industry cluster: Toshiba America Nuclear Power.
The newly formed company has set up shop in Alexandria with the mission of marketing and promoting advanced boiling water (ABWR) nuclear power plants and providing support for related services. As the business develops, Toshiba plans to expand U.S. operations to provide licensing and engineering support related to construction of future nuclear power plants, including plant design and procurement.
U.S. power companies have announced plans to build over 30 new nuclear power plants in coming years. According to a press release, Toshiba and Westinghouse, a Toshiba Group company, are promoting their advanced boiling water reactors and pressurized water reactors. Toshiba’s initial staff will be about 30, a figure that is expected to increase as work on U.S. nukes gathers steam (so to speak).
The new company also will be a vehicle for Toshiba and Westinghouse to exchange know-how for the operation and maintenance of existing plants. Toshiba America also will handle licensing for the 4S, a new type of super-safe, small and simple system for nuclear power generation, a promising technology for future distributed power sources, and lay the groundwork for future marketing of the system.
Besides the nuclear power plants operated by Dominion, significant pockets of nuclear-power expertise reside in Virginia, mainly in Lynchburg and Newport News. I had never considered the possibility that proximity to Washington, D.C., and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission might be a competitive advantage in attracting nuclear-related enterprises, but a hint in Toshiba’s press release — the statement that it will provide licensing support — suggests that may be the case.