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NuclearPlantJournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, July-August 2016
Centers of...
that as well and obviously improve safety.
Those are examples of using technology
to help drive cost out, improve efficiency,
lower dose and enhance safety. All of
those objectives, by the way, are part of
the nuclear promise, improving safety,
reliability and lowering cost and we’re
helping in all of those areas.
5.
What is the strength of Hitachi in GE
Hitachi?
We look for areas, technologies and
lessons that we can leverage from our
alliance partner, Hitachi. I think a great
example and one of the main drivers for
putting this alliance together was their
ability to do modular construction. They
are experts in modular construction for
new nuclear plants. Because they have
developed that expertise, they’ve been
able to consistently deliver on schedule
and on budget. They’ve got a track record
of building plants on time, on schedule.
Recently there hasn’t been a great track
record of that across the industry. That’s
a significant advantage that they bring to
us that we’ll be able to leverage as we
build new units.
6.
What is the status of different GE
Hitachi’s units in the United States?
From a new unit standpoint, in the
United States, we’re very pleased that
DTE Energy received the first-ever
ESBWR-based combined operating and
construction license last year. Dominion
is not far behind. They’ve submitted
their license and we expect that they’ll
get their approval in early 2017, if not
sooner. We continue to work with both
DTE and Dominion. Based on the current
economics in the US with low natural gas
prices, it’s just not economically viable
right now to build, but they’re committed
to the technology and we’re continuing
to work with them on the right timing to
complete detailed design and implement
their projects. Also in North America,
we’ve had a lot of interest in Mexico,
which is planning to build up to three
units in the state of Veracruz, where the
Laguna Verde site is located.
