[asia-apec 180] Japan's Nuclear Export to Asian Region

[Citizens' Nuclear Information Center]

Dear Friends,

Japanese companies have spoken out just after the Taiwanese government's
approved the construction of 4th N-plants.  
The same details were come up on Sunday's Japan Times.

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RTw  10/21 0319  Hitachi,Toshiba to build nuclear reactor in Taiwan

Copyright, 1996 Reuters Ltd.  All rights reserved. The following news report may
not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the prior
written consent of Reuters Ltd.

    TOKYO, Oct 21 (Reuter) - Leading Japanese electric machinery makers Hitachi
Ltd and Toshiba Corp are teaming up to build a nuclear reactor in Taiwan,
becoming the first Japanese firms to make a reactor for foreign use.
     The Taiwan project to build a boiling water reactor, in which General
Electric Co of the United States is the main contractor, is worth 180 billion
yen ($1.60 billion), a Hitachi spokesman said.
     The main part of the reactor will be built in Japan and then shipped to
Taiwan in three to four years from now, the spokesman said.
     "We are attracted to a number of projects in Asia in light of delays in
nuclear plant construction plans at home due to environmental concerns among the
public," said the spokesman.
     As of the end of 1995, there were 28 nuclear power plant projects in Asian
countries excluding Japan, compared with only two in Japan, according to the
Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, a government-affiliated institution.
     But an official of the body said there are major obstacles to building
nuclear reactors in Asia by Japanese firms alone, because they are not able to
re-import  nuclear waste for recycling or permanent disposal.
     The reactor is an advanced version of a boiled water reactor jointly
developed by Hitachi, Toshiba, General Electric and Tokyo Electric Power CoInc.
     The same type of reactor is currently being built by Tokyo Electric Power
in Japan, the spokesman said. That reactor is expected to start operating by the
end of this year.
     The Taiwan project became certain when Taiwan's parliament voted on Friday
to restore funding for the island's fourth nuclear power station. The parliament
had voted in May to cancel funding.
     But Taiwanese anti-nuclear activists remain strongly opposed.
  ($1-112 yen)
  REUTER

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Mika Obayashi