Toshiba writes down NINA losses
Toshiba has posted losses of ¥31 billion ($305 million) on the asset value of Nuclear Innovation North America (NINA), the company set up to promote its ABWR design in North America.
The announcement comes in a revised business forecast for fiscal 2013, which ended on 31 March 2014. Toshiba describes the reassessment of NINA as "conservative" but nevertheless says it remains positive on the feasibility of the project to build two ABWRs at the South Texas Project (STP).
NINA was set up in 2008 by Toshiba and US utility NRG Energy, and applied for a combined construction and operation licence through the STP Nuclear Operating Company. NINA owns over 92% of the STP new build project, and Toshiba has bankrolled the licensing process since NRG withdrew from the project in 2011. The major problem for the project is a US Nuclear Regulatory Commission ruling that NINA does not meet US regulations on foreign ownership and would be ineligible to receive a licence for the plant. Although the NRC Atomic Safety Licensing Board has since ruled that Toshiba's formal 10% ownership of NINA is acceptable, the future of the project is likely to rest on whether it can secure a US-based source of funding.
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News
