Toshiba, GE join hands for nuclear power plant deal TOKYO, May 2 (Xinhua) --
Toshiba Corp. has joined hands with General Electric Co. in a bid to win a
nuclear power plant deal in the United States, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported
Sunday. According to the business daily, the two electric giants have agreed to carry
out a feasibility study for building a nuclear plant there as the US government
decided to support the construction of nuclear power plants, which has been
suspended since a major accident at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in
Pennsylvania in 1979. The two companies have already applied for permission with the US Department
of Energy for their planned business activity, the newspaper said. Toshiba and GE will work in a consortium with four more companies -- public
power firm Tennessee Valley Authority, contractor Bechtel Corp., enriched
uranium fuel supplier USEC Inc. and Global Nuclear Fuel-Americas LLC, a joint
venture set up by GE, Toshiba and Hitachi Ltd. Once they obtain government approval, the consortium will begin the
feasibility study for installing an advanced boiling water reactor in Alabama
with an output of over 1 million kilowatts. Total construction costs will be
more than 3 billion US dollars, the daily said.