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M'bishi Heavy, U.S. firm form joint nuclear reactor venture in Texas(Kyodo News International (Tokyo) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Feb. 2--TOKYO -- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. said Monday it has formed a joint venture with U.S. power generation firm Luminant to develop and operate the Japanese firm's newest nuclear reactor for use by the Texas-based partner. The new firm, Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Co., will seek to install two of the reactors, called the Mitsubishi US-Advanced Pressurized Water Reactor, at Luminant's nuclear power plant in Texas, Mitsubishi Heavy said. The joint venture is owned 88 percent by Luminant, a subsidiary of Dallas-based privately held energy company, Energy Future Holdings Corp., with the remainder held by Mitsubishi Heavy. The two reactors, to be housed by new facilities called Comanche Peak Units 3 and 4 at Luminant's nuclear facilities, will each be capable of generating 1,700 megawatts, enough to power nearly 875,000 average homes in Texas, according to Mitsubishi Heavy. The project, also supported by trading house Mitsubishi Corp., is now under review and awaiting the go-ahead from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. "The establishment of the joint venture between MHI and Luminant will allow the Comanche Peak projects to move forward as economically and efficiently as possible," said Frank Gillespie, senior vice president for new plant technology at Mitsubishi Nuclear Energy Systems Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary Mitsubishi Heavy founded in Washington in 2006 to market the new reactor in the United States. To see more of Kyodo News International, go to http://www.kyodonews.com Copyright (c) 2009, Kyodo News International, Tokyo Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |