139-483: The AP1000 is a nuclear power plant designed and sold by Westinghouse Electric Company . The plant is a pressurized water reactor with improved use of passive nuclear safety and many design features intended to lower its capital cost and improve its economics. The design traces its history to the Westinghouse 4-loop SNUPPS design, which was produced in various locations around the world. (Note: System 80
278-517: A Combined Construction and Operating License before construction starts, the validity of which is conditional upon the plant being built as designed, and that each AP1000 should be identical. Its design is the first Generation III+ reactor to receive final design approval from the NRC. In 2008 China started building four units of the AP1000's 2005-design. In December 2011, the NRC approved construction of
417-404: A carbon footprint comparable to that of renewable energy such as solar farms and wind farms , and much lower than fossil fuels such as natural gas and coal . Nuclear power plants are among the safest modes of electricity generation, comparable to solar and wind power plants. The first time that heat from a nuclear reactor was used to generate electricity was on December 21, 1951, at
556-420: A steam generator and heats water to produce steam. The pressurized steam is then usually fed to a multi-stage steam turbine . After the steam turbine has expanded and partially condensed the steam, the remaining vapor is condensed in a condenser. The condenser is a heat exchanger which is connected to a secondary side such as a river or a cooling tower . The water is then pumped back into the steam generator and
695-524: A brand of Toshiba. In March 2014, Toshiba sued SK Hynix , accusing the company of stealing technology of its NAND flash memory. In the late same year, the two companies settled with a deal in which SK Hynix pays US$ 278 million to Toshiba. Toshiba had sued Hynix in the early 2000s for patent infringement . In October 2014, Toshiba and United Technologies agreed a deal to expand their joint venture outside Japan . Toshiba first announced in May 2015 that it
834-1064: A contract with Orion Electric , one of the world's largest OEM consumer video electronic makers and suppliers, to manufacture and supply finished consumer TV and video products for Toshiba to meet the increasing demand for the North American market. The contract ended in 2008, ending seven years of OEM production with Orion. In December 2004, Toshiba quietly announced it would discontinue manufacturing traditional in-house cathode-ray tube (CRT) televisions. In 2005, Matsushita Toshiba Picture Display Co. Ltd. (a joint venture between Panasonic and Toshiba created in 2002 ) stopped production of CRTs at its factory in Horseheads, New York. A year later, in 2006, it stopped production at its Malaysian factory, following heavy losses. In 2006, Toshiba terminated sales of CRT TVs in Japan and production of in-house plasma TVs. To ensure its future competitiveness in
973-402: A facility has been completely decommissioned it is released from regulatory control, and the licensee of the station no longer has responsibility for its nuclear safety. Generally speaking, nuclear stations were originally designed for a life of about 30 years. Newer stations are designed for a 40 to 60-year operating life. The Centurion Reactor is a future class of nuclear reactor that
1112-497: A local standardization of the AP1000 design, transitional to the CAP1400 . It is said to have reduced cost and improved operation and maintenance attributes. As of 2021, site preparations have been done for Haiyang , Lufeng , Sanmen , and Xudabao for the construction of eight additional CAP1000 units. However, most of these projects are at a standstill, as construction of all CAP-1000 units has been slowed down significantly. At
1251-440: A long history and sprawling businesses, Toshiba is a household name in Japan and has long been viewed as a symbol of the country's technological prowess post- World War II . As a semiconductor company and the inventor of flash memory , Toshiba had been one of the top 10 in the chip industry until its flash memory unit was spun off as Kioxia in the late 2010s. The company was also relevant in consumer personal computers, releasing
1390-431: A mixture of liquid water and steam at saturation conditions, from the turbine-generator exhaust and condenses it back into sub-cooled liquid water so it can be pumped back to the reactor by the condensate and feedwater pumps. In the main condenser, the wet vapor turbine exhaust come into contact with thousands of tubes that have much colder water flowing through them on the other side. The cooling water typically come from
1529-404: A natural body of water such as a river or lake. Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station , located in the desert about 97 kilometres (60 mi) west of Phoenix, Arizona, is the only nuclear facility that does not use a natural body of water for cooling, instead it uses treated sewage from the greater Phoenix metropolitan area. The water coming from the cooling body of water is either pumped back to
SECTION 10
#17327801025501668-429: A nuclear power plant often spans five to ten years, which can accrue significant financial costs, depending on how the initial investments are financed. Because of this high construction cost and lower operations, maintenance, and fuel costs, nuclear plants are usually used for base load generation, because this maximizes the hours over which the fixed cost of construction can be amortized. Nuclear power plants have
1807-483: A nuclear station is smaller than the fuel cost for operation of coal or gas plants. Since most of the cost of nuclear power plant is capital cost, there is almost no cost saving by running it at less than full capacity. Nuclear power plants are routinely used in load following mode on a large scale in France, although "it is generally accepted that this is not an ideal economic situation for nuclear stations". Unit A at
1946-569: A number of design wins at this larger size. Twelve AP1000s are currently in operation or under construction. Four are in operation at two sites in China , two at Sanmen Nuclear Power Station and two at Haiyang Nuclear Power Plant . As of 2019, all four Chinese reactors were completed and connected to the grid, and as of 2024, 6 more are under construction. Two are in operation at the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in
2085-516: A number of long-established projects are struggling to find financing, notably Belene in Bulgaria and the additional reactors at Cernavodă in Romania , and some potential backers have pulled out. Where cheap gas is available and its future supply relatively secure, this also poses a major problem for nuclear projects. Analysis of the economics of nuclear power must take into account who bears
2224-444: A previous goal aimed to reduce nuclear electricity generation share to lower than fifty percent by 2025, this target was postponed to 2035 in 2019 and ultimately discarded in 2023. Russia continues to export the most nuclear power plants in the world, with projects across various countries: as of July 2023, Russia was constructing 19 out of 22 reactors constructed by foreign vendors; however, some exporting projects were canceled due to
2363-799: A separate business, to save Toshiba from bankruptcy. In February 2017, Toshiba revealed unaudited details of a 390 billion yen ($ 3.4 billion) corporate wide loss, mainly arising from its majority owned US based Westinghouse nuclear construction subsidiary which was written down by 712 billion yen ($ 6.3 billion). On 14 February 2017, Toshiba delayed filing financial results, and chairman Shigenori Shiga, formerly chairman of Westinghouse, resigned. Construction delays, regulatory changes and cost overruns at Westinghouse-built nuclear facilities Vogtle units 3 and 4 in Waynesboro, Georgia and VC Summer units 2 and 3 in South Carolina, were cited as
2502-591: A significantly different evaluation of the economics of new nuclear power stations. Following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan , costs are likely to go up for currently operating and new nuclear power stations, due to increased requirements for on-site spent fuel management and elevated design basis threats. However many designs, such as the currently under construction AP1000, use passive nuclear safety cooling systems, unlike those of Fukushima I which required active cooling systems, which largely eliminates
2641-413: A slight decrease from the 2653 TWh produced in 2021. Thirteen countries generated at least one-quarter of their electricity from nuclear sources. Notably, France relies on nuclear energy for about 70% of its electricity needs, while Ukraine , Slovakia , Belgium , and Hungary source around half their power from nuclear. Japan , which previously depended on nuclear for over a quarter of its electricity,
2780-427: A small enough volume to become supercritical. Most reactors require continuous temperature control to prevent a core meltdown , which has occurred on a few occasions through accident or natural disaster, releasing radiation and making the surrounding area uninhabitable. Plants must be defended against theft of nuclear material and attack by enemy military planes or missiles. The most serious accidents to date have been
2919-640: A subsidiary of Toshiba and the Norwegian company Kongsberg Vaapenfabrikk . The incident strained relations between the United States and Japan , and resulted in the arrest and prosecution of two senior executives, as well as the imposition of sanctions on the company by both countries. Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania said "What Toshiba and Kongsberg did was ransom the security of the United States for $ 517 million." In 2001, Toshiba signed
SECTION 20
#17327801025503058-482: A three-year research study of offshore floating nuclear power generation. In October 2022, NuScale Power and Canadian company Prodigy announced a joint project to bring a North American small modular reactor based floating plant to market. The economics of nuclear power plants is a controversial subject, and multibillion-dollar investments ride on the choice of an energy source. Nuclear power stations typically have high capital costs, but low direct fuel costs, with
3197-401: A vice president, and provided the technology for bulb-making. Production equipment was bought from GE and Tokyo Denki soon started selling its products with GE's trademark. Toshiba was founded in 1939 by the merger of Shibaura Seisakusho and Tokyo Denki. The merger of Shibaura and Tokyo Denki created a new company called Tokyo Shibaura Denki (Tokyo Shibaura Electric) ( 東 京 芝 浦 電気 ). It
3336-580: A worldwide perspective, long-term waste storage costs are uncertain. Construction, or capital cost aside, measures to mitigate global warming such as a carbon tax or carbon emissions trading , increasingly favor the economics of nuclear power. Further efficiencies are hoped to be achieved through more advanced reactor designs, Generation III reactors promise to be at least 17% more fuel efficient, and have lower capital costs, while Generation IV reactors promise further gains in fuel efficiency and significant reductions in nuclear waste. In Eastern Europe,
3475-577: A year. Earlier in April, the company filed twice-delayed business results without an endorsement from auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). On 20 September 2017, Toshiba's board approved a deal to sell its memory chip business to a group led by Bain Capital for US$ 18 billion, with financial backing by companies such as Apple , Dell Technologies , Hoya Corporation , Kingston Technology , Seagate Technology , and SK Hynix . The newly independent company
3614-801: Is about 1/3 of solar and 1/45 of natural gas and 1/75 of coal . Newer models, like HPR1000 , produce even less carbon dioxide during the whole operating life, as little as 1/8 of power plants using gen II reactors for 1.31g/kWh. Toshiba Toshiba Corporation ( 株式会社東芝 , Kabushikigaisha Tōshiba , English: / t ə ˈ ʃ iː b ə , t ɒ -, t oʊ -/ ) is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo . Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors , hard disk drives , printers, batteries, lighting, as well as IT solutions such as quantum cryptography . It
3753-408: Is activated, the water flows by gravity to the top of the reactor where it evaporates to remove heat. The system uses multiple explosively-operated and DC operated valves which must operate within the first 30 minutes. This is designed to happen even if the reactor operators take no action. The electrical system required for initiating the passive systems doesn't rely on external or diesel power and
3892-464: Is anticipated to resume similar levels of nuclear energy utilization. Over the last 15 years, the United States has seen a significant improvement in the operational performance of its nuclear power plants, enhancing their utilization and efficiency, adding the output equivalent to 19 new 1000 MWe reactors without actual construction. In France, nuclear power plants still produce over sixty percent of this country's total power generation in 2022. While
4031-503: Is being designed to last 100 years. One of the major limiting wear factors is the deterioration of the reactor's pressure vessel under the action of neutron bombardment, however in 2018 Rosatom announced it had developed a thermal annealing technique for reactor pressure vessels which ameliorates radiation damage and extends service life by between 15 and 30 years. Nuclear stations are used primarily for base load because of economic considerations. The fuel cost of operations for
4170-502: Is currently developing more advanced versions and owns their patent rights. The first AP1000 began operations in China at Sanmen, where Unit 1 became the first AP1000 to achieve criticality in June 2018, and was connected to the grid the next month. Further builds in China will be based on the modified CAP1000 and CAP1400 designs. The AP1000 design traces its history to two previous designs,
4309-439: Is fissile which means that it is easily split and gives off a lot of energy making it ideal for nuclear energy. On the other hand, U-238 does not have that property despite it being the same element. Different isotopes also have different half-lives . U-238 has a longer half-life than U-235, so it takes longer to decay over time. This also means that U-238 is less radioactive than U-235. Since nuclear fission creates radioactivity,
AP1000 - Misplaced Pages Continue
4448-684: Is known about the evolving Fukushima I nuclear accidents . In February 2012, nine environmental groups filed a collective challenge to the certification of the Vogtle reactor design and in March they filed a challenge to the Vogtle license. In May 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). In February 2012, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved
4587-445: Is mounted to track the outlet steam of the steam generator. In contrast, boiling water reactors pass radioactive water through the steam turbine, so the turbine is kept as part of the radiologically controlled area of the nuclear power station. The electric generator converts mechanical power supplied by the turbine into electrical power. Low-pole AC synchronous generators of high rated power are used. A cooling system removes heat from
4726-522: Is three-and-a-half to five times thicker than the liners used in current designs, and that corrosion would be readily apparent during routine inspection. Edwin Lyman , a senior staff scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists , has challenged specific cost-saving design choices made for both the AP1000 and ESBWR , another new design. Lyman is concerned about the strength of the steel containment vessel and
4865-608: The Financial Times reported on 23 January 2006 that Toshiba had won the bid, it valued the company's offer at $ 5 billion (£2.8 billion). The sale of Westinghouse by the Government of the United Kingdom surprised many industry experts, who questioned the wisdom of selling one of the world's largest producers of nuclear reactors shortly before the market for nuclear power was expected to grow substantially; China ,
5004-502: The AP600 and the System 80 . The System 80 design was created by Combustion Engineering and featured a two-loop cooling system with a single steam generator paired with two reactor coolant pumps in each loop that makes it simpler and less expensive than systems which pair a single reactor coolant pump with a steam generator in each of two, three, or four loops. Three completed reactors in
5143-843: The Experimental Breeder Reactor I , powering four light bulbs. On June 27, 1954, the world's first nuclear power station to generate electricity for a power grid , the Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant , commenced operations in Obninsk , in the Soviet Union . The world's first full scale power station, Calder Hall in the United Kingdom , opened on October 17, 1956 and was also meant to produce plutonium . The world's first full scale power station solely devoted to electricity production
5282-496: The Russian invasion of Ukraine . Meanwhile, China continues to advance in nuclear energy: having 25 reactors under construction by late 2023, China is the country with the most reactors being built at one time in the world. Nuclear decommissioning is the dismantling of a nuclear power station and decontamination of the site to a state no longer requiring protection from radiation for the general public. The main difference from
5421-678: The UAE launched the Arab region's first-ever nuclear energy plant. Unit 1 of the Barakah plant in the Al Dhafrah region of Abu Dhabi commenced generating heat on the first day of its launch, while the remaining 3 Units are being built. However, Nuclear Consulting Group head, Paul Dorfman, warned the Gulf nation's investment into the plant as a risk "further destabilizing the volatile Gulf region, damaging
5560-403: The United States and the United Kingdom were all expected to invest heavily in nuclear power. The acquisition of Westinghouse for $ 5.4 billion was completed on 17 October 2006, with Toshiba obtaining a 77 percent share, and partners The Shaw Group a 20 percent share and Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. a 3 percent share. In late 2007, Toshiba took over from Discover Card as
5699-625: The Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Generating Station (Units 2 & 3). The project was abandoned in July 2017, 4 years after it began, due to Westinghouse's recent bankruptcy, major cost overruns, significant delays, and other issues. The project's primary shareholder ( SCANA ) initially favored a plan to abandon development of Unit 3, while completing Unit 2. The plan was dependent on approval of a minority shareholder ( Santee Cooper ). Santee Cooper's board voted to cease all construction resulting in termination of
AP1000 - Misplaced Pages Continue
5838-612: The Xudabao site, construction of two VVER-1200 units for Xudabao 3 & 4 was started in 2021 while the planned CAP1000 units for phase 1 & 2 are still on hold. On 20 April 2022, the construction of Haiyang 3 & 4 and Sanmen 3 & 4 was approved by the State Council. However, Lufeng 5, using a Hualong One unit, was decided to be built first instead of the CAP1000 units for Lufeng 1-4 which had already been approved by
5977-533: The heat source is a nuclear reactor . As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a generator that produces electricity . As of September 2023 , the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that there were 410 nuclear power reactors in operation in 32 countries around the world, and 57 nuclear power reactors under construction. Building
6116-424: The 1970s and 1980s, when it "reached an intensity unprecedented in the history of technology controversies," in some countries. Proponents argue that nuclear power is a sustainable energy source which reduces carbon emissions and can increase energy security if its use supplants a dependence on imported fuels. Proponents advance the notion that nuclear power produces virtually no air pollution, in contrast to
6255-485: The 1979 Three Mile Island accident , the 1986 Chernobyl disaster , and the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster , corresponding to the beginning of the operation of generation II reactors . Professor of sociology Charles Perrow states that multiple and unexpected failures are built into society's complex and tightly coupled nuclear reactor systems. Such accidents are unavoidable and cannot be designed around. An interdisciplinary team from MIT has estimated that given
6394-549: The 1990s, Westinghouse had been working on a new design known as the AP600 with a design power of about 600 MWe. This was part of the United States Department of Energy’s Advanced Light Water Reactor program that worked on a series of Generation III reactor designs. In contrast to Generation II designs, the AP600 was much simpler, with a huge reduction in the total number of parts, and especially pumps. It
6533-669: The AP 1000 Shangdong Haiyang Nuclear Power Plant, which belongs to the China National State Nuclear Technology Corporation ( SNPTC ), a subsidiary of the China State Electricity Investment Corporation (SPIC). [2] Two reactors have been brought online at the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in the state of Georgia (Units 3 & 4). In South Carolina , two units were being constructed at
6672-485: The AP1000 buildings concrete walls in steel plates. Last year Ma, a member of the NRC since it was formed in 1974, filed the first "non-concurrence" dissent of his career after the NRC granted the design approval. In it Ma argues that some parts of the steel skin are so brittle that the "impact energy" from a plane strike or storm driven projectile could shatter the wall. A team of engineering experts hired by Westinghouse disagreed... In 2010, following Ma's initial concerns,
6811-512: The AP1000's safety is enhanced by fewer active components, not compromised as Ms. Vancko suggests. As in direct contrast to currently operating reactors, the AP1000 has been designed around the concept of passive nuclear safety . In October 2013, Li Yulun, a former vice-president of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), raised concerns over the safety standards of the delayed AP1000 third-generation nuclear power plant being built in Sanmen, due to
6950-538: The AP600. With the purchase of the company by BNFL and its merger with ABB, a design combining the features of the System 80+ with the AP600 started as the AP1000. BNFL in turn sold Westinghouse Electric to Toshiba in 2005. In December 2005, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved the final design certification for the AP1000. This meant that prospective US builders could apply for
7089-612: The Brazilian company Semp (Sociedade Eletromercantil Paulista), subsequently forming Semp Toshiba through the combination of the two companies' South American operations. In 1987, Toshiba Machine, a subsidiary of Toshiba, was accused of illegally selling CNC milling machines used to produce very quiet submarine propellers to the Soviet Union in violation of the CoCom agreement, an international embargo on certain countries to COMECON countries. The Toshiba-Kongsberg scandal involved
SECTION 50
#17327801025507228-572: The Brussels supplementary convention, and the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage . However states with a majority of the world's nuclear power stations, including the U.S., Russia, China and Japan, are not party to international nuclear liability conventions. The nuclear power debate about the deployment and use of nuclear fission reactors to generate electricity from nuclear fuel for civilian purposes peaked during
7367-628: The Chinese State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC) and other institutes to develop a larger design, the CAP1400 of 1,400 MW e capacity, possibly followed by a 1,700 MW e design. China will own the patent rights for these larger designs. Exporting the new larger units may be possible with Westinghouse's cooperation. In September 2014, the Chinese nuclear regulator approved
7506-431: The NRC questioned the durability of the AP1000 reactor's original shield building in the face of severe external events such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and airplane collisions. In response to these concerns Westinghouse prepared a modified design. This modified design satisfied the NRC, with the exception of Ma, hence the "non-concurrence". In contrast to the NRC's decision, Ma believed that the computer codes used to analyze
7645-720: The NRC. The report concluded that certification of the AP1000 should be delayed until the original and current "unanswered safety questions" raised by the AP1000 Oversight Group are resolved. In 2012, Ellen Vancko, from the Union of Concerned Scientists, said that "the Westinghouse AP1000 has a weaker containment, less redundancy in safety systems, and fewer safety features than current reactors". In response to Ms. Vancko's concerns, climate policies author and retired nuclear engineer Zvi J. Doron, replied that
7784-688: The National Development and Reform Commission. On 14 September 2022, the State Council approved construction of Lianjiang 1 & 2. In October 2015 it was announced that technology for the İğneada Nuclear Power Plant in Turkey will come from US based firm Westinghouse Electric Company in the form of two AP1000 and two CAP1400 . In 2016, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of the Republic of Turkey , Berat Albayrak , inspected
7923-469: The Navy started to use competitive bids and then build its own works, the demand decreased substantially and the company started to lose money. The main creditor to the company, Mitsui Bank, took over the insolvent company in 1893 and renamed it Shibaura Seisakusho (Shibaura Engineering Works). Shibaura Seisakusho ( 芝浦製作所 , Shibaura Engineering Works) was the new name given to Tanaka Seisakusho after it
8062-674: The Social Infrastructure Group in India as Toshiba Transmission & Distribution Systems (India) Private Limited. In January 2014, Toshiba completed its acquisition of OCZ Storage Solutions . OCZ Technology stock was halted on 27 November 2013. OCZ then stated they expected to file a petition for bankruptcy and that Toshiba Corporation had expressed interest in purchasing its assets in a bankruptcy proceeding. On 2 December 2013, OCZ announced Toshiba had agreed to purchase nearly all of OCZ's assets for $ 35 million. The deal
8201-548: The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Toshiba first announced the recall in January and said it was recalling the batteries in certain Toshiba Notebook computers sold since June 2011. In May 2016, it was announced that Satoshi Tsunakawa, the former head of Toshiba's medical equipment division, was named CEO. This appointment came after the accounting scandal that occurred. In September 2016, Toshiba announced
8340-467: The U.S., or by Vestel and other manufacturers for the European market. In September 2015, Toshiba shares fell to their lowest point in two and a half years. The firm said in a statement that its net losses for the quarterly period were 12.3 billion yen ($ 102m; £66m). The company noted poor performances in its televisions, home appliances and personal computer businesses. In October 2015, Toshiba sold
8479-563: The US and another four in South Korea made it the most successful Generation II+ design. ABB Group bought Combustion Engineering in 1990 and introduced the System 80+, with a number of design changes and safety improvements. As part of a series of mergers, purchases, and divestitures by ABB, in 2000 the design was purchased by Westinghouse Electric Company , who had itself been purchased in 1999 by British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL). Through
SECTION 60
#17327801025508618-419: The US nuclear power plants under construction as part of a bilateral co-operation agreement between the two countries. Since China's State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC) acquired Westinghouses's AP1000 technology in 2006, it has developed a manufacturing supply chain capable of supplying international power projects. Industry analysts have highlighted a number of problems facing China's expansion in
8757-649: The US, with Vogtle 3 having come online in July 2023, and Vogtle 4 in April 2024. Construction at Vogtle suffered numerous delays and cost overruns at Vogtle and V.C. Summer led to Westinghouse's bankruptcy in 2017. Construction of the two reactors at the Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Generating Station was cancelled in 2017 following Westinghouse's bankruptcy. Nineteen more AP1000s are currently being planned, with 6 in India, 9 in Ukraine, 3 in Poland, and 1 in Bulgaria. China
8896-468: The amount of large diameter primary loop piping. Revision 15 of the AP1000 design has an unusual containment structure which has received approval by the NRC, after a Safety Evaluation Report, and a Design Certification Rule. Revisions 17, 18, and 19 were also approved. In April 2010, some environmental organizations called on the NRC to investigate possible limitations in the AP1000 reactor design. These groups appealed to three federal agencies to suspend
9035-557: The chief viable alternative of fossil fuel. Proponents also believe that nuclear power is the only viable course to achieve energy independence for most Western countries. They emphasize that the risks of storing waste are small and can be further reduced by using the latest technology in newer reactors, and the operational safety record in the Western world is excellent when compared to the other major kinds of power plants. Opponents say that nuclear power poses many threats to people and
9174-608: The commission was asking Westinghouse not only to fix its calculations but also to explain why it submitted flawed information in the first place. Westinghouse said that the items the commission was asking for were not "safety significant". In November 2011, Arnold Gundersen published a further report on behalf of the AP1000 Oversight Group , which includes Friends of the Earth and Mothers against Tennessee River Radiation. The report highlighted six areas of major concern and unreviewed safety questions requiring immediate technical review by
9313-555: The company's century-long presence in consumer markets. After a rejection to split the company, in 2023 Toshiba was purchased by a consortium led by Japan Industrial Partners (JIP); Toshiba turned private as a result and was delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange after 74 years, where it was formerly a constituent of the Nikkei 225 and TOPIX 100 indices. Tanaka Seisakusho ( 田中製作所 , Tanaka Engineering Works)
9452-418: The company's indebtedness to more than 1 trillion yen (about $ 8.3 billion). In January 2016, Toshiba's security division unveiled a new bundle of services for schools that use its surveillance equipment. The program, which is intended for both K-12 and higher education, includes education discounts, alerts, and post-warranty support, among other features, on its IP-based security gear. In March 2016, Toshiba
9591-437: The concrete shield building around the AP1000, claiming its containment vessel does not have sufficient safety margins. John Ma, a senior structural engineer at the NRC was quoted on his stance about the AP1000 nuclear reactor. In 2009, the NRC made a safety change related to the events of September 11, ruling that all plants be designed to withstand the direct hit from a plane. To meet the new requirement, Westinghouse encased
9730-433: The constantly changing, and consequently untested, design. Citing a lack of operating history, he also questioned the manufacturer's assertion that the AP1000 reactor's "primary system canned motor pumps" were "maintenance-free" over 60 years, the assumed life of the reactor and noted that the expansion from 600 to 1,000 megawatts has not yet been commercially proven. In 2008 and 2009, Westinghouse made agreements to work with
9869-493: The costs of fuel extraction, processing, use and spent fuel storage internalized costs. Therefore, comparison with other power generation methods is strongly dependent on assumptions about construction timescales and capital financing for nuclear stations. Cost estimates take into account station decommissioning and nuclear waste storage or recycling costs in the United States due to the Price Anderson Act . With
10008-492: The cycle begins again. The water-steam cycle corresponds to the Rankine cycle . The nuclear reactor is the heart of the station. In its central part, the reactor's core produces heat due to nuclear fission. With this heat, a coolant is heated as it is pumped through the reactor and thereby removes the energy from the reactor. The heat from nuclear fission is used to raise steam, which runs through turbines , which in turn power
10147-415: The design of the shield building of the new reactors. The chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said that: computations submitted by Westinghouse about the building's design appeared to be wrong and "had led to more questions."; the company had not used a range of possible temperatures for calculating potential seismic stresses on the shield building in the event of, for example, an earthquake; and that
10286-468: The design safety analysis following a 17-month review. In May 2015 the CAP1400 design passed an International Atomic Energy Agency 's Generic Reactor Safety Review. In December 2009, a Chinese joint venture was set up to build an initial CAP1400 near the HTR-PM at Shidao Bay Nuclear Power Plant . In 2015, site preparation started, and approval to progress was expected by the end of the year. In March 2017,
10425-445: The design without a strengthened containment structure to provide improved protection against an aircraft crash. China had officially adopted the AP1000 as a standard for inland nuclear projects. Following Westinghouse's bankruptcy in 2017, China decided in 2019 to build the domestically designed Hualong One rather than the AP1000 at Zhangzhou . After 2019, all plans for future AP1000 units were superseded by CAP1000 units, which are
10564-458: The dismantling of other power stations is the presence of radioactive material that requires special precautions to remove and safely relocate to a waste repository. Decommissioning involves many administrative and technical actions. It includes all clean-up of radioactivity and progressive demolition of the station. Once a facility is decommissioned, there should no longer be any danger of a radioactive accident or to any persons visiting it. After
10703-481: The electrical generators. Nuclear reactors usually rely on uranium to fuel the chain reaction. Uranium is a very heavy metal that is abundant on Earth and is found in sea water as well as most rocks. Naturally occurring uranium is found in two different isotopes : uranium-238 (U-238), accounting for 99.3% and uranium-235 (U-235) accounting for about 0.7%. U-238 has 146 neutrons and U-235 has 143 neutrons. Different isotopes have different behaviors. For instance, U-235
10842-534: The energy-intensive stages of the nuclear fuel chain are considered, from uranium mining to nuclear decommissioning , nuclear power is not a low-carbon electricity source despite the possibility of refinement and long-term storage being powered by a nuclear facility. Those countries that do not contain uranium mines cannot achieve energy independence through existing nuclear power technologies. Actual construction costs often exceed estimates, and spent fuel management costs are difficult to define. On 1 August 2020,
10981-505: The entire project. All four reactors were identical and the two projects ran in parallel, with the first two reactors (Vogtle 3 and Summer 2) planned to be commissioned in 2019 and the remaining two (Vogtle 4 and Summer 3) in 2020. After Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy protection on March 29, 2017, the construction has stalled. On April 9, 2008, Georgia Power Company reached a contract agreement with Westinghouse and Shaw for two AP1000 reactors to be built at Vogtle. The contract represents
11120-402: The environment and raising the possibility of nuclear proliferation." Nuclear power plants do not produce greenhouse gases during operation. Older nuclear power plants, like ones using second-generation reactors , produce approximately the same amount of carbon dioxide during the whole life cycle of nuclear power plants for an average of about 11g/kWh, as much power generated by wind , which
11259-775: The environment, and that costs do not justify benefits. Threats include health risks and environmental damage from uranium mining , processing and transport, the risk of nuclear weapons proliferation or sabotage, and the problem of radioactive nuclear waste . Another environmental issue is discharge of hot water into the sea. The hot water modifies the environmental conditions for marine flora and fauna. They also contend that reactors themselves are enormously complex machines where many things can and do go wrong, and there have been many serious nuclear accidents . Critics do not believe that these risks can be reduced through new technology , despite rapid advancements in containment procedures and storage methods. Opponents argue that when all
11398-525: The expected growth of nuclear power from 2005 to 2055, at least four serious nuclear accidents would be expected in that period. The MIT study does not take into account improvements in safety since 1970. Nuclear power works under an insurance framework that limits or structures accident liabilities in accordance with the Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy ,
11537-798: The first CAP1400 reactor pressure vessel passed pressure tests. Equipment for the CAP1400 is being manufactured, and as of 2020 preliminary construction is underway. In February 2019, the Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research & Design Institute announced that it had begun the conceptual design process for the CAP1700. Four AP1000 reactors have been constructed in China, two at Sanmen Nuclear Power Plant in Zhejiang , and two at Haiyang Nuclear Power Plant in Shandong . The Sanmen 1 & 2 AP1000s were connected to
11676-650: The first US plant to use the design. On February 9, 2012, the NRC approved the construction of two new reactors. In 2016 and 2017 cost overruns constructing AP1000 plants in the U.S. caused Westinghouse's owner Toshiba to write down its investment in Westinghouse by "several billion" dollars. On February 14, 2017, Toshiba delayed filing financial results, and Toshiba chairman Shigenori Shiga, formerly chairman of Westinghouse, resigned. On March 24, 2017, Toshiba announced that Westinghouse Electric Company will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy because of US$ 9 billion of losses from nuclear reactor construction projects, which may impact
11815-543: The first agreement for new nuclear development since the Three Mile Island accident in 1979. The license request for the Vogtle site is based on revision 18 of the AP1000 design. On February 16, 2010, President Obama announced $ 8.33 billion in federal loan guarantees to construct the two AP1000 units at the Vogtle plant. The cost of building the two reactors was projected to be $ 14 billion, but has since increased to $ 30B with only one reactor online and
11954-507: The first mass-market laptop in 1985 and later ranking as a major vendor of laptops; it exited the PC business in 2020 having divested it into Dynabook Inc. Toshiba faced trouble during the 2010s amid a much-publicised accounting scandal that affected its reputation, and the bankruptcy of its subsidiary nuclear energy company Westinghouse in 2017. This forced the conglomerate to shed a number of underperforming businesses, essentially eliminating
12093-668: The first wireless power receiver IC using the Qi 1.2.2 specification, developed in association with the Wireless Power Consortium . In December 2016, Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation was acquired by Canon . A Chinese electrical appliance corporation Midea Group bought a controlling 80.1% stake in the Toshiba Home Appliances Group. In late December 2016, the management of Toshiba requested an "urgent press briefing" to announce that
12232-504: The flat-panel digital television and display market, Toshiba has made a considerable investment in a new kind of display technology called SED . This technology, however, was never sold to the public, as it was not price-competitive with LCDs. Toshiba sold its share in SED Inc. to Canon after Nano-Proprietary, which owns several patents related to SED technology, claimed SED Inc. was not a subsidiary of Canon. Before World War II , Toshiba
12371-492: The founder of the present Oki Denki ( Oki Electric Industry ); and Ishiguro Keizaburō , a co-founder of the present Anritsu . After the demise of the founder in 1881, Tanaka Seisakusho became partly owned by General Electric and expanded into the production of torpedoes and mines at the request of the Imperial Japanese Navy , to become one of the largest manufacturing companies of the time. However, as
12510-626: The future of the AP1000. Westinghouse emerged from bankruptcy in August 2018. The AP1000 is a pressurized water reactor with two cooling loops, planned to produce a net power output of 1,117 MW e . It is an evolutionary improvement on the AP600 , essentially a more powerful model with roughly the same footprint. A design objective was to be less expensive to build than other Generation III reactor designs, by both using existing technology, and needing less equipment than competing designs that have three or four cooling loops. The design decreases
12649-402: The grid on July 2, 2018, and August 24, 2018, respectively. Haiyang 1 started commercial operation on October 22, 2018, and Haiyang 2 on January 9, 2019. In 2014, China First Heavy Industries manufactured the first domestically produced AP1000 reactor pressure vessel, for the second AP1000 unit of Sanmen Nuclear Power Station . The first four AP1000s to be built are to an earlier revision of
12788-462: The image sensor business to Sony . In December 2015, Muromachi said the episode had wiped about $ 8 billion off Toshiba's market value. He forecast a record 550 billion yen (about US$ 4.6 billion) annual loss and warned the company would have to overhaul its TV and computer businesses. Toshiba would not be raising funds for two years, he said. The next week, a company spokesperson announced Toshiba would seek 300 billion yen ($ 2.5 billion) in 2016, taking
12927-594: The imports and the quality was poorer. The company managed to survive with the booms after the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95 and the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05, but afterward its financial position was precarious. In 1905, the company was renamed Tokyo Denki (Tokyo Electric) and entered into a financial and technological collaboration with General Electric of the US. General Electric acquired 51 percent share of ownership, sent
13066-462: The keiretsu or allied keiretsu. This loyalty can extend as far as the beer the employees consume, which in Toshiba's case is Asahi . In July 2005, BNFL confirmed it planned to sell Westinghouse Electric Company , then estimated to be worth $ 1.8 billion (£1 billion). The bid attracted interest from several companies including Toshiba, General Electric and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and when
13205-410: The licensing process because they believed containment in the new design is weaker than existing reactors. In April 2010, Arnold Gundersen , a nuclear engineer commissioned by several anti-nuclear groups, released a report which explored a hazard associated with the possible rusting through of the containment structure steel liner. In the AP1000 design, the liner and the concrete are separated, and if
13344-411: The main causes of the dramatic fall in Toshiba's financial performance and collapse in the share price. Fixed priced construction contracts negotiated by Westinghouse with Georgia Power left Toshiba with uncharted liabilities that resulted in the sale of key Toshiba operating subsidiaries to secure the company's future. Westinghouse filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on 29 March 2017. Toshiba
13483-516: The modified design were not precise enough and some of the materials used were too brittle. A US consultant engineer has also criticized the AP1000 containment design arguing that, in the case of a design-basis accident , it could release radiation; Westinghouse has denied the claim. The NRC completed the overall design certification review for the amended AP1000 in September 2011. In May 2011, US government regulators found additional problems with
13622-607: The need to spend more on redundant back up safety equipment. According to the World Nuclear Association , as of March 2020: The Russian state nuclear company Rosatom is the largest player in international nuclear power market, building nuclear plants around the world. Whereas Russian oil and gas were subject to international sanctions after the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Rosatom
13761-485: The newly-found losses in the Westinghouse subsidiary from Vogtle Electric Generating Plant nuclear plant construction would lead to a write-down of several billion dollars, bankrupting Westinghouse and threatening to bankrupt Toshiba. The exact amount of the liabilities was unavailable. In January 2017, a person with direct knowledge of the matter reported that the company plans on making its memory chip division
13900-407: The now decommissioned German Biblis Nuclear Power Plant was designed to modulate its output 15% per minute between 40% and 100% of its nominal power. Russia has led in the practical development of floating nuclear power stations , which can be transported to the desired location and occasionally relocated or moved for easier decommissioning. In 2022, the United States Department of Energy funded
14039-403: The nuclear market including continued gaps in their supply chain, coupled with Western fears of political interference and Chinese inexperience in the economics of nuclear power. Nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant ( NPP ), also known as a nuclear power station ( NPS ), nuclear generating station ( NGS ) or atomic power station ( APS ) is a thermal power station in which
14178-455: The number of components, including pipes, wires, and valves. Standardization and type-licensing should also help reduce the time and cost of construction. Because of its simplified design compared to a Westinghouse generation II PWR, the AP1000 has: The AP1000 design is considerably more compact in land usage than most existing PWRs, and uses under a fifth of the concrete and rebar reinforcing of older designs. Probabilistic risk assessment
14317-410: The present Toshiba company. Several people who worked at Tanaka Seisakusho or who received Tanaka's guidance at a Kubusho (Ministry of Industries) factory later became pioneers themselves. These included Miyoshi Shōichi [ jp ] who helped Fujioka Ichisuke [ jp ] make the first power generator in Japan and to establish a company, Hakunetsusha to make bulbs; Oki Kibatarō ,
14456-474: The prospect that all spent nuclear fuel could potentially be recycled by using future reactors, generation IV reactors are being designed to completely close the nuclear fuel cycle . However, up to now, there has not been any actual bulk recycling of waste from a NPP, and on-site temporary storage is still being used at almost all plant sites due to construction problems for deep geological repositories . Only Finland has stable repository plans, therefore from
14595-420: The reactor core and transports it to another area of the station, where the thermal energy can be harnessed to produce electricity or to do other useful work. Typically the hot coolant is used as a heat source for a boiler, and the pressurized steam from that drives one or more steam turbine driven electrical generators . In the event of an emergency, safety valves can be used to prevent pipes from bursting or
14734-435: The reactor core is surrounded by a protective shield. This containment absorbs radiation and prevents radioactive material from being released into the environment. In addition, many reactors are equipped with a dome of concrete to protect the reactor against both internal casualties and external impacts. The purpose of the steam turbine is to convert the heat contained in steam into mechanical energy. The engine house with
14873-469: The reactor from exploding. The valves are designed so that they can derive all of the supplied flow rates with little increase in pressure. In the case of the BWR , the steam is directed into the suppression chamber and condenses there. The chambers on a heat exchanger are connected to the intermediate cooling circuit. The main condenser is a large cross-flow shell and tube heat exchanger that takes wet vapor,
15012-540: The risks of future uncertainties. To date all operating nuclear power stations were developed by state-owned or regulated utilities where many of the risks associated with construction costs, operating performance, fuel price, and other factors were borne by consumers rather than suppliers. Many countries have now liberalized the electricity market where these risks and the risk of cheaper competitors emerging before capital costs are recovered, are borne by station suppliers and operators rather than consumers, which leads to
15151-417: The same manner as the currently operating fleet of US power reactors. Power reactors of all types continue to produce heat from radioactive decay products even after the main reaction is shut down, so it is necessary to remove this heat to avoid meltdown of the reactor core. In the AP1000, Westinghouse's Passive Core Cooling System uses a tank of water situated above the reactor. When the passive cooling system
15290-426: The second remaining under construction. Georgia Power, which owns 45.7% of Vogtle, delayed the projected in-service dates to the fourth quarter of 2023, or first quarter of 2024, for Unit 4. Environmental groups opposed to the licensing of the two new AP1000 reactors to be built at Vogtle filed a new petition in April 2011 asking the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's commission to suspend the licensing process until more
15429-544: The shares of the Swiss-based advanced-power-meter maker Landis+Gyr for $ 2.3 billion. In 2010 the company released a series of television models including the WL768, YL863, VL963 designed in collaboration with Danish designer Timothy Jacob Jensen . In April 2012, Toshiba agreed to acquire IBM 's point-of-sale business for $ 850 million, making it the world's largest vendor of point-of-sale systems. In July 2012, Toshiba
15568-619: The sponsor of the top-most screen of One Times Square in New York City . It displays the iconic 60-second New Year's countdown on its screen, as well as messages, greetings, and advertisements for the company. The sponsor of the New Year's countdown was taken over by Capital One on 31 December 2018. In January 2009, Toshiba acquired the HDD business of Fujitsu . Toshiba announced on 16 May 2011, that it had agreed to acquire all of
15707-476: The steam generators—in the case of a pressurized water reactor — or directly into the reactor, for boiling water reactors . Continuous power supply to the plant is critical to ensure safe operation. Most nuclear stations require at least two distinct sources of offsite power for redundancy. These are usually provided by multiple transformers that are sufficiently separated and can receive power from multiple transmission lines. In addition, in some nuclear stations,
15846-423: The steam turbine is usually structurally separated from the main reactor building. It is aligned so as to prevent debris from the destruction of a turbine in operation from flying towards the reactor. In the case of a pressurized water reactor, the steam turbine is separated from the nuclear system. To detect a leak in the steam generator and thus the passage of radioactive water at an early stage, an activity meter
15985-434: The steel rusts through, "there is no backup containment behind it" according to Gundersen. If the dome rusted through the design would expel radioactive contaminants and the plant "could deliver a dose of radiation to the public that is 10 times higher than the N.R.C. limit" according to Gundersen. Vaughn Gilbert, a spokesman for Westinghouse, has disputed Gundersen's assessment, stating that the AP1000's steel containment vessel
16124-477: The turbine generator can power the station's loads while the station is online, without requiring external power. This is achieved via station service transformers which tap power from the generator output before they reach the step-up transformer. Nuclear power plants generate approximately 10% of global electricity, sourced from around 440 reactors worldwide. They are recognized as a significant provider of low-carbon electricity , accounting for about one-quarter of
16263-477: The two previous CEOs. Chairman Masashi Muromachi was appointed acting CEO. Following the scandal, Toshiba Corp. was removed from a stock index showcasing Japan's best companies. That was the second reshuffle of the index, which picks companies with the best operating income, return on equity and market value. Toshiba announced in early 2015 that they would stop making televisions in its own factories. From 2015 onward, Toshiba televisions will be made by Compal for
16402-463: The two proposed reactors at the Vogtle plant. For VC Summer, a delay of at least one year and extra costs of $ 1.2 billion were announced in October 2014, largely due to fabrication delays. Unit 2 was then expected to be substantially complete in late 2018 or early 2019, with unit 3 about a year later. In October 2013, US energy secretary Ernest Moniz announced that China was to supply components to
16541-400: The valves don't rely on hydraulic or compressed air systems. The design is intended to passively remove heat for 72 hours, after which its gravity drain water tank must be topped up for as long as cooling is required. The reactor uses canned motor pumps that are hermetically sealed, use no reactor coolant pump seals and are mounted directly on the bottom of the steam generators. This reduces
16680-413: The water source at a warmer temperature or returns to a cooling tower where it either cools for more uses or evaporates into water vapor that rises out the top of the tower. The water level in the steam generator and the nuclear reactor is controlled using the feedwater system. The feedwater pump has the task of taking the water from the condensate system, increasing the pressure and forcing it into either
16819-459: The world's supply in this category. As of 2020, nuclear power stood as the second-largest source of low-carbon energy, making up 26% of the total. Nuclear power facilities are active in 32 countries or regions, and their influence extends beyond these nations through regional transmission grids, especially in Europe. In 2022, nuclear power plants generated 2545 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity,
16958-634: Was a company established by Miyoshi Shōichi and Fujioka Ichisuke , two of Japan's industrial pioneers during the Tokugawa / Edo period . It specialized in the manufacturing of lightbulbs. The company was established in 1890 and started out by selling bulbs using bamboo filaments. However, following the opening up of trade with the West through the Unequal treaty , Hakunetsusha met with fierce competition from imports. Its bulb cost about 60 percent more than
17097-535: Was a member of the Mitsui Group zaibatsu ( family-controlled vertical monopoly ). Today Toshiba is a member of the Mitsui keiretsu (a set of companies with interlocking business relationships and shareholdings), and still has preferential arrangements with Mitsui Bank and the other members of the keiretsu. Membership in a keiretsu has traditionally meant loyalty, both corporate and private, to other members of
17236-419: Was a similar vintage nuclear steam supply system made by Combustion Engineering). Further development of the 4-loop reactor and the ice-condenser containment initially led to the AP600 concept, with a smaller 600 to 700 MWe output, but this saw limited interest. In order to compete with other designs that were scaling up in size in order to improve capital costs , the design re-emerged as the AP1000 and found
17375-440: Was accused of fixing the prices of LCD panels in the United States at a high level. While such claims were denied by Toshiba, they agreed to settle alongside several other manufacturers for a total of $ 571 million. In December 2013, Toshiba completed its acquisition of Vijai Electricals Limited plant at Hyderabad and set up its own base for manufacturing of transmission and distribution products (transformers and switchgears) under
17514-665: Was also passively safe, a key feature of Gen III designs. The AP600 was at the small end of the reactor scale. Smaller plants are periodically introduced because they can be used in a wider variety of markets where a larger reactor is simply too powerful to serve the local market. The downside of such designs is that the construction time, and thus cost, does not differ significantly compared to larger designs, so these smaller designs often have less attractive economics. The AP600 addressed this through modular construction and aimed to go from first concrete to fuel load in 36 months. In spite of these attractive features, Westinghouse had no sales of
17653-459: Was completed on 21 January 2014 when the assets of OCZ Technology Group became a new independently operated subsidiary of Toshiba named OCZ Storage Solutions. OCZ Technology Group then changed its name to ZCO Liquidating Corporation; on 18 August 2014, ZCO Liquidating Corporation and its subsidiaries were liquidated. OCZ Storage Solutions was dissolved on 1 April 2016 and absorbed into Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc., with OCZ becoming
17792-460: Was declared insolvent in 1893 and taken over by Mitsui Bank. In 1910, it formed a tie-up with General Electric (GE), which, in exchange for technology, acquired about a quarter of the shares of Shibaura. The relation with GE continued until the beginning of World War II and resumed in 1953 with GE's 24 percent shareholding in the successor company, Tokyo Shibaura Denki. This percentage decreased substantially since then. Hakunetsusha ( 白熱舎 )
17931-423: Was estimated to have 9 billion dollar annual net loss. On 11 April 2017, Toshiba filed unaudited quarterly results. Auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers had not signed of the accounts because of uncertainties at Westinghouse. Toshiba stated that "substantial doubt about the company's ability to continue as a going concern exists". On 25 April 2017, Toshiba announced its decision to replace its auditor after less than
18070-440: Was formerly also one of the biggest manufacturers of personal computers , consumer electronics , home appliances , and medical equipment . The Toshiba name is derived from its former name, Tokyo Shibaura Denki K.K. which in turn was a 1939 merger between Shibaura Seisaku-sho (founded in 1875) and Tokyo Denki (founded in 1890). The company name was officially changed to Toshiba Corporation in 1978. A technology company with
18209-416: Was investigating an accounting scandal and it might have to revise its profits for the previous three years. On 21 July 2015, CEO Hisao Tanaka announced his resignation amid an accounting scandal that he called "the most damaging event for our brand in the company's 140-year history". Profits had been inflated by $ 1.2 billion over the previous seven years. Eight other senior officials also resigned, including
18348-520: Was named Toshiba Memory Corporation , and then renamed Kioxia . On 15 November 2017, Hisense reached a deal to acquire 95% of Toshiba Visual Solutions ( television sets ) for US$ 113.6 million. Later that month, the company announced that it would pull out of its long-standing sponsorships of the Japanese television programs Sazae-san , Nichiyō Gekijo , and the video screens topping out One Times Square in New York City . The company cited that
18487-477: Was not targeted by sanctions. However, some countries, especially in Europe, scaled back or cancelled planned nuclear power plants that were to be built by Rosatom. Modern nuclear reactor designs have had numerous safety improvements since the first-generation nuclear reactors. A nuclear power plant cannot explode like a nuclear weapon because the fuel for uranium reactors is not enriched enough, and nuclear weapons require precision explosives to force fuel into
18626-450: Was preparing to start construction on a cutting-edge new semiconductor plant in Japan that would mass-produce chips based on the ultra-dense flash variant. Toshiba expected to spend approximately 360 billion yen, or $ 3.2 billion, on the project through May 2019. In April 2016, Toshiba recalled 100,000 faulty laptop lithium-ion batteries, which were made by Panasonic , that can overheat, posing burn and fire hazards to consumers, according to
18765-604: Was sold in 1961 by Toshiba in Japan. Toshiba is responsible for a number of Japanese firsts, including radar (1912) , the TAC digital computer (1954), transistor television, color CRTs and microwave oven (1959), color video phone (1971), Japanese word processor (1978), MRI system (1982), personal computer Pasopia (1981), laptop personal computer (1986), NAND EEPROM (1991), DVD (1995), the Libretto sub-notebook personal computer (1996) and HD DVD (2005). In 1977, Toshiba acquired
18904-773: Was soon nicknamed Toshiba, but it was not until 1978 that the company was officially renamed Toshiba Corporation. The company was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in May 1949. The group expanded rapidly, driven by a combination of organic growth and by acquisitions, buying heavy engineering, and primary industry firms in the 1940s and 1950s. Groups created include Toshiba Music Industries/Toshiba EMI (1960), Toshiba International Corporation (the 1970s), Toshiba Electrical Equipment (1974), Toshiba Chemical (1974), Toshiba Lighting and Technology (1989), Toshiba America Information Systems (1989) and Toshiba Carrier Corporation (1999). The first mini-split ductless air conditioner
19043-584: Was the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania , United States, which was connected to the grid on December 18, 1957. The conversion to electrical energy takes place indirectly, as in conventional thermal power stations. The fission in a nuclear reactor heats the reactor coolant. The coolant may be water or gas, or even liquid metal, depending on the type of reactor. The reactor coolant then goes to
19182-435: Was the first company established by Tanaka Hisashige (1799–1881), one of the most original and productive inventor-engineers during the Tokugawa / Edo period . Established on 11 July 1875, it was the first Japanese company to manufacture telegraph equipment. It also manufactured switches, and miscellaneous electrical and communications equipment. The company was inherited by Tanaka's adopted son, and later became half of
19321-479: Was used in the design of the plants. This enabled minimization of risks, and calculation of the overall safety of the plant. According to the NRC, the plants will be orders of magnitude safer than those in the last study, NUREG-1150 . The AP1000 has a maximum core damage frequency of 5.09 × 10 per plant per year. Used fuel produced by the AP1000 can be stored indefinitely in water on the plant site. Aged used fuel may also be stored in above-ground dry cask storage , in
#549450