17 May (NucNet): General Electric (GE) and Hitachi have agreed to go ahead with the formation of a “global alliance” that will combine their nuclear power plant and services businesses to take advantage of growth in the nuclear energy industry.
Based on a formation agreement that has now been signed, GE and Hitachi will form cross-shareholding companies in US, Canada and Japan, subject to government approvals.
The alliance, when formally completed, will combine GE and Hitachi’s nuclear businesses to create what GE called “one of the world’s foremost nuclear power plant and services operations”. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2007.
GE and Hitachi first announced their intent to create a nuclear business alliance in November 2006. At the time, GE said Hitachi would take a 40 percent holding in GE’s nuclear business and GE would take an approximately 20 percent holding in Hitachi’s nuclear business.
The move is intended strengthen GE and Hitachi’s existing boiling water reactor capabilities, while positioning the alliance for expansion into new nuclear energy segments and technologies. Potential areas of investment include new infrastructure and advanced reactor design.
In March 2007 GE opened a new technology centre in the US state of North Carolina where staff will work on the commercial launch of GE’s next generation advanced economic simplified boiling water reactor (ESBWR).
