Wilmington, North Carolina-based GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) has signed agreements with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) as the companies prepare to collaborate on building multiple GEH-designed nuclear reactors to help meet India's energy needs.
Under the preliminary agreements, GEH will begin planning with NPCIL and BHEL what resources in manufacturing and construction management will be needed for a potential multiple-unit Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) nuclear power station.
The 1,350MW ABWR technology is claimed to be the world's only commercially proven Generation III reactor design. In Japan, four ABWR units are in operation; another three units are under construction in Taiwan and Japan, and nine more units are planned in Japan. It is feasible that an ABWR plant could be built in the US and be commercially operational by 2012.
GEH also signed separate agreements with Mumbai-based NPCIL, India's only nuclear utility operating 17 reactors, and New Delhi-based BHEL, the country's leading manufacturer and supplier of power generation equipment and components.
The two government-owned companies are helping lead India's efforts to expand electricity generation from nuclear energy more than tenfold over the next two decades, from 4.1GW today to 60GW by 2032.
The General Electric Company (GE) built India's first nuclear plant, the Tarapur 1 and 2 Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) station, during the 1960s.
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I think that a network inclusive of the vehicles on it would make sense. However it remains to be seen if there is any plan for it to be for the...