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113-417: The MH-1A was designed as a towed craft because it was expected to stay anchored for most of its life, making it uneconomical to keep the ship's own propulsion system. It contained a single-loop pressurized water reactor, in a 350-ton containment vessel, using low enriched uranium (4% to 7% U) as fuel. The MH-1A had an elaborate analog-computer-powered simulator installed at Fort Belvoir. The MH-1A simulator

226-417: A laser enrichment process known as SILEX ( separation of isotopes by laser excitation ), which it intends to pursue through financial investment in a U.S. commercial venture by General Electric, Although SILEX has been granted a license to build a plant, the development is still in its early stages as laser enrichment has yet to be proven to be economically viable, and there is a petition being filed to review

339-773: A blendstock to dilute the unwanted byproducts that may be contained in the HEU feed. Concentrations of these isotopes in the LEU product in some cases could exceed ASTM specifications for nuclear fuel if NU or DU were used. So, the HEU downblending generally cannot contribute to the waste management problem posed by the existing large stockpiles of depleted uranium. Effective management and disposition strategies for depleted uranium are crucial to ensure long-term safety and environmental protection. Innovative approaches such as reprocessing and recycling of depleted uranium could offer sustainable solutions to minimize waste and optimize resource utilization in

452-411: A combination of chemical processes with the end product being concentrated uranium oxide, which is known as " yellowcake ", contains roughly 80% uranium whereas the original ore typically contains as little as 0.1% uranium. This yellowcake is further processed to obtain the desired form of uranium suitable for nuclear fuel production. After the milling process is complete, the uranium must next undergo

565-619: A company specializing in IT and infrastructure maintenance in the near future. In March 2011, Hitachi agreed to sell its hard disk drive subsidiary, HGST , to Western Digital for a combination of cash and shares worth US$ 4.3 billion. Due to concerns of a duopoly of WD and Seagate Technology by the EU Commission and the Federal Trade Commission , Hitachi's 3.5" HDD division was sold to Toshiba . The transaction

678-435: A lower than 20% concentration of U; for instance, in commercial LWR, the most prevalent power reactors in the world, uranium is enriched to 3 to 5% U. Slightly enriched uranium ( SEU ) has a concentration of under 2% U. High-assay LEU (HALEU) is enriched between 5% and 20% and is called for in many small modular reactor (SMR) designs. Fresh LEU used in research reactors is usually enriched between 12% and 19.75% U;

791-530: A minimum of 20% could be sufficient (called weapon-usable) although it would require hundreds of kilograms of material and "would not be practical to design"; even lower enrichment is hypothetically possible, but as the enrichment percentage decreases the critical mass for unmoderated fast neutrons rapidly increases, with for example, an infinite mass of 5.4% U being required. For criticality experiments, enrichment of uranium to over 97% has been accomplished. The first uranium bomb, Little Boy , dropped by

904-409: A mix of ions . France developed its own version of PSP, which it called RCI. Funding for RCI was drastically reduced in 1986, and the program was suspended around 1990, although RCI is still used for stable isotope separation. "Separative work"—the amount of separation done by an enrichment process—is a function of the concentrations of the feedstock, the enriched output, and the depleted tailings; and

1017-525: A negatively charged plate and collected. Molecular laser isotope separation uses an infrared laser directed at UF 6 , exciting molecules that contain a U atom. A second laser frees a fluorine atom, leaving uranium pentafluoride , which then precipitates out of the gas. Separation of isotopes by laser excitation is an Australian development that also uses UF 6 . After a protracted development process involving U.S. enrichment company USEC acquiring and then relinquishing commercialization rights to

1130-500: A particular vortex tube separator design, and both embodied in industrial plant. A demonstration plant was built in Brazil by NUCLEI, a consortium led by Industrias Nucleares do Brasil that used the separation nozzle process. However, all methods have high energy consumption and substantial requirements for removal of waste heat; none is currently still in use. In the electromagnetic isotope separation process (EMIS), metallic uranium

1243-489: A pivotal moment following the 2008 global financial crisis . This crisis led to a record loss of 787.3 billion yen, prompting a strategic overhaul. The company concentrated its efforts on the 'Social Innovation Business', capitalising on its strengths in infrastructure and IT, and underwent major structural changes. These involved consolidating unprofitable operations and venturing into new fields such as digital systems and renewable energy, adapting to changing market dynamics. As

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1356-566: A private enterprise" to proceed. In October 2019, the talks between Honda and Hitachi to consolidate their four automotive parts businesses, Showa , Nissin and Keihin of the former and the latter's Hitachi Automotive Systems, have reportedly begun, resulting in the creation of a "mega supplier" named Hitachi Astemo incorporated in January 2021. In March 2020, an improved version of the L0 Series SCMaglev rolling stock for

1469-408: A process of conversion, "to either uranium dioxide , which can be used as the fuel for those types of reactors that do not require enriched uranium, or into uranium hexafluoride , which can be enriched to produce fuel for the majority of types of reactors". Naturally occurring uranium is made of a mixture of U and U. The U is fissile , meaning it is easily split with neutrons while the remainder

1582-423: A result of these strategic moves, Hitachi returned to profitability by March 2011. Today, Hitachi's corporate activities are organised into three large sections: Digital Systems and Services, Green Energy and Mobility, and Connective Industries. The Digital Systems and Services segment features Lumada. This segment focuses on business processes and operational efficiency. This segment accounted for 21.9 percent of

1695-433: A significant contributor to global energy security and environmental sustainability, effectively repurposing material once intended for destructive purposes into a resource for peaceful energy production. The United States Enrichment Corporation has been involved in the disposition of a portion of the 174.3 tonnes of highly enriched uranium (HEU) that the U.S. government declared as surplus military material in 1996. Through

1808-453: A sphere about 17 centimetres (6.7 in) in diameter. Later U.S. nuclear weapons usually use plutonium-239 in the primary stage, but the jacket or tamper secondary stage, which is compressed by the primary nuclear explosion often uses HEU with enrichment between 40% and 80% along with the fusion fuel lithium deuteride . This multi-stage design enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of nuclear weapons, allowing for greater control over

1921-537: Is U, but in nature, more than 99% of the extracted ore is U. Most nuclear reactors require enriched uranium, which is uranium with higher concentrations of U ranging between 3.5% and 4.5% (although a few reactor designs using a graphite or heavy water moderator , such as the RBMK and CANDU , are capable of operating with natural uranium as fuel). There are two commercial enrichment processes: gaseous diffusion and gas centrifugation . Both enrichment processes involve

2034-692: Is a Japanese multinational conglomerate founded in 1910 and headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo . The company is active in a range of industries, including digital systems, power and renewable energy , railway systems, healthcare products , and financial systems . The company was founded as an electrical machinery manufacturing subsidiary of the Kuhara Mining Plant in Hitachi, Ibaraki by engineer Namihei Odaira in 1910. It started as an independent company under its current name in 1920. Hitachi

2147-410: Is a minor isotope contained in natural uranium (primarily as a product of alpha decay of U —because the half-life of U is much larger than that of U , it is be produced and destroyed at the same rate in a constant steady state equilibrium, bringing any sample with sufficient U content to a stable ratio of U to U over long enough timescales); during

2260-534: Is a very effective and cheap method of uranium separation, able to be done in small facilities requiring much less energy and space than previous separation techniques. The cost of uranium enrichment using laser enrichment technologies is approximately $ 30 per SWU which is less than a third of the price of gas centrifuges, the current standard of enrichment. Separation of isotopes by laser excitation could be done in facilities virtually undetectable by satellites. More than 20 countries have worked with laser separation over

2373-440: Is approximately 100 dollars per Separative Work Units (SWU), making it about 40% cheaper than standard gaseous diffusion techniques. The Zippe-type centrifuge is an improvement on the standard gas centrifuge, the primary difference being the use of heat. The bottom of the rotating cylinder is heated, producing convection currents that move the U up the cylinder, where it can be collected by scoops. This improved centrifuge design

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2486-404: Is being done that would use nuclear resonance ; however, there is no reliable evidence that any nuclear resonance processes have been scaled up to production. Gaseous diffusion is a technology used to produce enriched uranium by forcing gaseous uranium hexafluoride ( hex ) through semi-permeable membranes . This produces a slight separation between the molecules containing U and U. Throughout

2599-476: Is composed of three major isotopes: uranium-238 ( U with 99.2732–99.2752% natural abundance ), uranium-235 ( U, 0.7198–0.7210%), and uranium-234 ( U, 0.0049–0.0059%). U is the only nuclide existing in nature (in any appreciable amount) that is fissile with thermal neutrons . Enriched uranium is a critical component for both civil nuclear power generation and military nuclear weapons . There are about 2,000  tonnes of highly enriched uranium in

2712-408: Is crucial for optimizing the economic and operational performance of uranium enrichment facilities. In addition to the separative work units provided by an enrichment facility, the other important parameter to be considered is the mass of natural uranium (NU) that is needed to yield a desired mass of enriched uranium. As with the number of SWUs, the amount of feed material required will also depend on

2825-482: Is evident in its leadership, as all its 12 CEOs, including founder Odaira, have engineering backgrounds. Remarkably, 8 out of the 12 consecutive CEOs, including Odaira, are alumni of the University of Tokyo 's Faculty of Engineering. Historically recognised for its technology and industrial products, including electric generators , consumer electronics , trains , computers , and nuclear reactors , Hitachi faced

2938-640: Is expressed in units that are so calculated as to be proportional to the total input (energy / machine operation time) and to the mass processed. Separative work is not energy. The same amount of separative work will require different amounts of energy depending on the efficiency of the separation technology. Separative work is measured in Separative work units SWU, kg SW, or kg UTA (from the German Urantrennarbeit – literally uranium separation work ). Efficient utilization of separative work

3051-514: Is first vaporized, and then ionized to positively charged ions. The cations are then accelerated and subsequently deflected by magnetic fields onto their respective collection targets. A production-scale mass spectrometer named the Calutron was developed during World War II that provided some of the U used for the Little Boy nuclear bomb, which was dropped over Hiroshima in 1945. Properly

3164-547: Is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and is a key component of the Nikkei 225 and TOPIX Core30 indices. As of June 2024, it has a market capitalisation of 16.9 trillion yen, making it the fourth largest Japanese company by market value. In terms of global recognition, Hitachi was ranked 38th in the 2012 Fortune Global 500 and 129th in the 2012 Forbes Global 2000 . Hitachi is a highly globalised conglomerate. In

3277-435: Is lost during manufacturing. The opposite of enriching is downblending; surplus HEU can be downblended to LEU to make it suitable for use in commercial nuclear fuel. Downblending is a key process in nuclear non-proliferation efforts, as it reduces the amount of highly enriched uranium available for potential weaponization while repurposing it for peaceful purposes. The HEU feedstock can contain unwanted uranium isotopes: U

3390-606: Is not usable in thermal neutron reactors but can be chemically separated from spent fuel to be disposed of as waste or to be transmutated into Pu (for use in nuclear batteries ) in special reactors. Understanding and managing the isotopic composition of uranium during downblending processes is essential to ensure the quality and safety of the resulting nuclear fuel, as well as to mitigate potential radiological and proliferation risks associated with unwanted isotopes. The blendstock can be NU or DU; however, depending on feedstock quality, SEU at typically 1.5 wt% U may be used as

3503-690: Is only 1.26% lighter than U.) This problem is compounded because uranium is rarely separated in its atomic form, but instead as a compound ( UF 6 is only 0.852% lighter than UF 6 ). A cascade of identical stages produces successively higher concentrations of U. Each stage passes a slightly more concentrated product to the next stage and returns a slightly less concentrated residue to the previous stage. There are currently two generic commercial methods employed internationally for enrichment: gaseous diffusion (referred to as first generation) and gas centrifuge ( second generation), which consumes only 2% to 2.5% as much energy as gaseous diffusion. Some work

MH-1A - Misplaced Pages Continue

3616-461: Is taken directly from the Earth is not suitable as fuel for most nuclear reactors and requires additional processes to make it usable ( CANDU design is a notable exception). Uranium is mined either underground or in an open pit depending on the depth at which it is found. After the uranium ore is mined, it must go through a milling process to extract the uranium from the ore. This is accomplished by

3729-567: Is taking for 2016 an estimated ¥65 billion write-off in value of a SILEX technology laser uranium enrichment joint venture with General Electric . In February 2017, Hitachi and Honda announced a partnership to develop, produce and sell motors for electric vehicles. Also in 2017, private equity firm KKR bought Hitachi Kokusai's (itself a subsidiary of Hitachi) semiconductor equipment division, becoming Kokusai Electric . In 2019, Applied Materials announced that it would acquire Kokusai Electric from KKR for US$ 2.2 billion. The deal

3842-487: Is used commercially by Urenco to produce nuclear fuel and was used by Pakistan in their nuclear weapons program. Laser processes promise lower energy inputs, lower capital costs and lower tails assays, hence significant economic advantages. Several laser processes have been investigated or are under development. Separation of isotopes by laser excitation (SILEX) is well developed and is licensed for commercial operation as of 2012. Separation of isotopes by laser excitation

3955-616: The American Physical Society filed a petition with the NRC, asking that before any laser excitation plants are built that they undergo a formal review of proliferation risks. The APS even went as far as calling the technology a "game changer" due to the ability for it to be hidden from any type of detection. Aerodynamic enrichment processes include the Becker jet nozzle techniques developed by E. W. Becker and associates using

4068-766: The Andrew J. Weber , a diesel-fueled power barge of 20 MW capacity, was deployed to the Canal Zone in November 1968. These two barges not only contributed to meeting the Canal Zone’s power requirements, but also made possible conserving vast quantities of water that otherwise would be needed to operate the hydroelectric power station. The Corps of Engineers estimates that over one trillion gallons were saved (or, rather, freed up) between October 1968 and October 1972 – enough to permit fifteen additional ships to pass through

4181-573: The Chuo Shinkansen was introduced, marking the first magnetically levitated train manufactured by Hitachi. In September 2020, Hitachi abandoned plans to create nuclear power plants in Gloucestershire and Wales due to issues with funding due to the impact of COVID-19 . In the same month, Hitachi Capital agreed to be bought by its second-largest shareholder, business partner, and former rival Mitsubishi UFJ Lease , which invested in

4294-556: The Cold War , gaseous diffusion played a major role as a uranium enrichment technique, and as of 2008 accounted for about 33% of enriched uranium production, but in 2011 was deemed an obsolete technology that is steadily being replaced by the later generations of technology as the diffusion plants reach their ends of life. In 2013, the Paducah facility in the U.S. ceased operating, it was the last commercial U gaseous diffusion plant in

4407-472: The LIGA process and the vortex tube separation process. These aerodynamic separation processes depend upon diffusion driven by pressure gradients, as does the gas centrifuge. They in general have the disadvantage of requiring complex systems of cascading of individual separating elements to minimize energy consumption. In effect, aerodynamic processes can be considered as non-rotating centrifuges. Enhancement of

4520-676: The Military Ocean Terminal at Sunny Point, North Carolina , and undergo temporary structural repairs. Following repairs, the Sturgis was towed to Fort Belvoir, arriving in March 1977. Fuel was removed from the reactor at Fort Belvoir and shipped to the Savannah River Site , and the plant was put into SAFSTOR (safe storage), with decontamination and physical barriers to prevent release of radioactivity. The Sturgis

4633-742: The SM-1 , was built at Fort Belvoir in 1955–57 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) . It was located in the southeast "corner" of the post, alongside Gunston Cove, off the Potomac River. The SM-1 reactor, also known as the Army Package Reactor Program, was used to train nuclear operations personnel for all three services. For that reason, the MH-1A was installed and tested aboard the Sturgis while it

MH-1A - Misplaced Pages Continue

4746-536: The United States on Hiroshima in 1945, used 64 kilograms (141 lb) of 80% enriched uranium. Wrapping the weapon's fissile core in a neutron reflector (which is standard on all nuclear explosives) can dramatically reduce the critical mass. Because the core was surrounded by a good neutron reflector, at explosion it comprised almost 2.5 critical masses. Neutron reflectors, compressing the fissile core via implosion, fusion boosting , and "tamping", which slows

4859-552: The purge of key pre-war Japanese figures ended. However, he died in October of the same year at age 77. Despite these challenges, Hitachi demonstrated strong resilience, quickly recovering its pre-war production and technology levels and expanding its business scope. In 1949, Hitachi built its first power shovel, marking the start of what is now Hitachi Construction Machinery . The company also innovated in electric generators during this period. Furthermore, in 1960, Hitachi developed

4972-601: The Darlington site in Ontario, Canada. OPG and GE-Hitachi will be collaborating on the design, planning and preparation of license materials for the construction of Canada's first SMR which is planned to enter operation in 2028. Hitachi, with its focus on energy, information technology, and infrastructure, has seen a significant improvement in profitability since the record loss in 2009. Reflecting this, Hitachi’s market capitalisation has more than octupled since 2010, becoming

5085-756: The December-to-May dry season, which necessitated curtailment of operations at Gatun Hydroelectric Station. The ship was moored in Gatun Lake , between the Gatun Locks and the Chagres dam spillway. Beginning in October 1968 the 10 MW electrical power produced by the MH-1A plant aboard the Sturgis allowed it to replace the power from the Gatun Hydroelectric Station, which freed the lake water for navigation use. Additionally,

5198-552: The Hitachi HM6147 chip, developed by a Hitachi team led by Toshiaki Masuhara, was able to match the Intel's flagship 2147 HMOS's performance with 87 per cent less power. Until the early 1980s, American semiconductor producers were focusing on the development and production of NMOS transistors, with which they dominated the global market, while Hitachi invested heavily in developing efficient CMOS transistors. This success led to

5311-570: The Hitachi NAS Platform. Since September 19, 2017, Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) has become part of Hitachi Vantara, a new company that unifies the operations of Pentaho , Hitachi Data Systems and Hitachi Insight Group. The company name "Hitachi Data Systems" (HDS) and its logo is no longer used in the market. Hitachi Consulting , the group's international management and technology consulting subsidiary with headquarters in Dallas, Texas,

5424-546: The Hitachi subsidiary in 2016. In November 2020, it announced that Hitachi Metals and Hitachi Construction Machinery , both being some of the last remaining listed subsidiaries, will likely be detached from the group according to the restructuring plan. In December, Hitachi sold a 60% stake in its overseas home appliance business to Turkish Arcelik for US$ 300 million. In December 2021, it was announced by OPG that they had selected GE-Hitachi to construct two BWRX-300 reactors at

5537-535: The James River Reserve Fleet. According to the decommissioning plan the Sturgis was to be relocated to Galveston, Texas , where CB&I would remove the residual radioactive waste materials. After that the remaining portions of the barge would be transported to Brownsville, Texas , for disposal or recycling as scrap, using standard ship-breaking methods. In 2019 the ship was scrapped. The move to Galveston, originally planned for September 2014,

5650-703: The Netherlands, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Belgium, Iran, Italy, and Spain hold an investment interest in the French Eurodif enrichment plant, with Iran's holding entitling it to 10% of the enriched uranium output. Countries that had enrichment programs in the past include Libya and South Africa, although Libya's facility was never operational. The Australian company Silex Systems has developed

5763-635: The U.S. HEU Downblending Program, this HEU material, taken primarily from dismantled U.S. nuclear warheads, was recycled into low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel, used by nuclear power plants to generate electricity. This innovative program not only facilitated the safe and secure elimination of excess weapons-grade uranium but also contributed to the sustainable operation of civilian nuclear power plants, reducing reliance on newly enriched uranium and promoting non-proliferation efforts globally The following countries are known to operate enrichment facilities: Argentina, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Iran, Japan,

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5876-507: The UK, from E.ON and RWE for £700 million. In November 2012, Hitachi and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries agreed to merge their thermal power generation businesses into a joint venture to be owned 65% by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and 35% by Hitachi. The joint venture named Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) began operations in February 2014. In 2020 Hitachi transferred its share of

5989-490: The United Kingdom, expanded in the 2010s, with Hitachi Newton Aycliffe starting operations in October 2015. Following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011 and the extended temporary closure of most Japanese nuclear plants, Hitachi's nuclear business became unprofitable and in 2016 Hitachi CEO Toshiaki Higashihara argued Japan should consider a merger of the various competing nuclear businesses. Hitachi

6102-468: The amount of NU required and the number of SWUs required during enrichment change in opposite directions, if NU is cheap and enrichment services are more expensive, then the operators will typically choose to allow more U to be left in the DU stream whereas if NU is more expensive and enrichment is less so, then they would choose the opposite. When converting uranium ( hexafluoride , hex for short) to metal, 0.3%

6215-643: The automotive and electronics industries. Among the Hitachi Metals facilities is Hitachi Metal Yasugi Works or Tatara Works, one of the oldest furnaces in Japan, famously featured as a main backdrop in Princess Mononoke , a Japanese animation film set in the Muromachi period . As of September 2020, Hitachi Metals is set to be divested as part of the long-term restructuring plan being executed by

6328-416: The blended LEU product. U is a neutron poison ; therefore the actual U concentration in the LEU product must be raised accordingly to compensate for the presence of U. While U also absorbs neutrons, it is a fertile material that is turned into fissile U upon neutron absorption . If U absorbs a neutron, the resulting short-lived U beta decays to Np , which

6441-489: The centrifugal forces is achieved by dilution of UF 6 with hydrogen or helium as a carrier gas achieving a much higher flow velocity for the gas than could be obtained using pure uranium hexafluoride. The Uranium Enrichment Corporation of South Africa (UCOR) developed and deployed the continuous Helikon vortex separation cascade for high production rate low-enrichment and the substantially different semi-batch Pelsakon low production rate high enrichment cascade both using

6554-515: The company started manufacturing elevators and electric refrigerators. World War II and its aftermath significantly impacted Hitachi, leading to the destruction of factories, post-war internal discord, and the removal of founder Namihei Odaira by the Allied occupational forces. Hitachi went public in 1949, listing on the Tokyo Exchange (TYO:6501). Odaira returned to the company in 1951 when

6667-544: The company, making it difficult to implement fundamental solutions. These delays in essential reforms proved detrimental when facing the 2007–2008 financial crisis and led to the record loss. This prompted Hitachi to restructure and sell a number of divisions and businesses under the leadership of Takashi Kawamura . From 2008 to 2018, Hitachi reduced the number of its listed group companies and consolidated subsidiaries in Japan from 22 to 4 and around 400 to 202, respectively, through restructuring and sell-offs. It plans to become

6780-489: The compatriot auto suppliers. The rest of the group companies include: Bought by Mitsubishi , it had been the group's financial business arm. Spin-off entities from Hitachi Works include Hitachi Cable (1956) and Hitachi Canadian Industries Limited (founded 1988 in Saskatoon and closed in 2016 as Mitsubishi-Hitachi Power Systems). As Hitachi pulled out of MHPS and handed over the control to MHI , Hitachi Works

6893-468: The enriched stream to contain 3.6% U (as compared to 0.7% in NU) while the depleted stream contains 0.2% to 0.3% U. In order to produce one kilogram of this LEU it would require approximately 8 kilograms of NU and 4.5 SWU if the DU stream was allowed to have 0.3% U. On the other hand, if the depleted stream had only 0.2% U, then it would require just 6.7 kilograms of NU, but nearly 5.7 SWU of enrichment. Because

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7006-621: The enrichment process, its concentration increases but remains well below 1%. High concentrations of U are a byproduct from irradiation in a reactor and may be contained in the HEU, depending on its manufacturing history. U is produced primarily when U absorbs a neutron and does not fission. The production of U is thus unavoidable in any thermal neutron reactor with U fuel. HEU reprocessed from nuclear weapons material production reactors (with an U assay of approximately 50%) may contain U concentrations as high as 25%, resulting in concentrations of approximately 1.5% in

7119-442: The exact figure is classified. In August, 2011 Global Laser Enrichment, a subsidiary of GEH, applied to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a permit to build a commercial plant. In September 2012, the NRC issued a license for GEH to build and operate a commercial SILEX enrichment plant, although the company had not yet decided whether the project would be profitable enough to begin construction, and despite concerns that

7232-417: The expansion of the fissioning core with inertia, allow nuclear weapon designs that use less than what would be one bare-sphere critical mass at normal density. The presence of too much of the U isotope inhibits the runaway nuclear chain reaction that is responsible for the weapon's power. The critical mass for 85% highly enriched uranium is about 50 kilograms (110 lb), which at normal density would be

7345-463: The first consumer HDD with a storage of 1 TB, which was released in the same year. In FY2008, Hitachi lost US$ 7.8 billion, the largest corporate loss in Japanese history up to that point. Since its zenith in the 1980s and 1990s, a number of departments had suffered a decline in efficiency. However, being one of the largest conglomerates in the world at the time, conflicts of interest existed across

7458-432: The fiscal year 2023, it generated approximately 61% of its total revenue of 9.7 trillion yen from international markets. The major contributors to this global revenue were Asia , Europe , and North America , with each region accounting for 22%, 16%, and 16% of the total revenue, respectively. Hitachi's mission is to 'contribute to society through the development of superior, original technology and products'. This ethos

7571-410: The former's wholly owned Hitachi Automotive Systems, to be better equipped for the changing car market environment, frequently represented as CASE, for which they will integrate their assets to accelerate development of new technology and software. Hitachi Astemo is considered a "mega supplier", as annual sales of the four predecessors combined stood at $ 17 billion, placing it as the second largest among

7684-737: The fourth largest company in Japan by market capitalisation in June 2024. Hitachi Vantara is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi which provides hardware, software and services to help companies manage their digital data. Its flagship products are the Virtual Storage Platform (for enterprise storage), Hitachi Unified Storage VM for large-sized companies, Hitachi Unified Storage for small and mid-sized companies, Hitachi Content Platform (archiving and cloud architecture), Hitachi Command Suite (for storage management), Hitachi TrueCopy and Hitachi Universal Replicator (for remote replication), and

7797-591: The group. Hitachi is a major rolling stock manufacturer. Hitachi acquired Italian rolling stock manufacturer AnsaldoBreda in 2015, renaming it Hitachi Rail Italy Hitachi Astemo, which stands for "Advanced Sustainable Technologies for Mobility", is a 67-33 joint venture between Hitachi and Honda , which merged their four auto parts affiliates and division, the latter's three keiretsu companies Showa Corporation , Keihin Corporation , and Nissin Kogyo , and

7910-509: The kanji for 'sun' (日, hi ) and 'rise' (立, tachi ), was coined by Odaira. While industrial machinery in Japan was usually powered by steam at the time, Odaira built water power stations in the mine and electrified almost all facilities in the factory. This led to the accumulation of expertise in electrical engineering, and helped the company develop various electrical equipment later in its history. In 1924, Hitachi completed Japan's first mainline electric locomotive ( JNR Class ED15 ). In 1932,

8023-413: The latter concentration is used to replace HEU fuels when converting to LEU. Highly enriched uranium (HEU) has a 20% or higher concentration of U. This high enrichment level is essential for nuclear weapons and certain specialized reactor designs. The fissile uranium in nuclear weapon primaries usually contains 85% or more of U known as weapons grade , though theoretically for an implosion design ,

8136-408: The level of enrichment desired and upon the amount of U that ends up in the depleted uranium. However, unlike the number of SWUs required during enrichment, which increases with decreasing levels of U in the depleted stream, the amount of NU needed will decrease with decreasing levels of U that end up in the DU. For example, in the enrichment of LEU for use in a light water reactor it is typical for

8249-550: The license given to SILEX over nuclear proliferation concerns. It has also been claimed that Israel has a uranium enrichment program housed at the Negev Nuclear Research Center site near Dimona . During the Manhattan Project , weapons-grade highly enriched uranium was given the codename oralloy , a shortened version of Oak Ridge alloy, after the location of the plants where the uranium

8362-458: The locks of the canal each day. After one year of operations in the Canal Zone, the MH-1A reactor had to be refueled, a process which took one week (17–25 October 1969), according to a 1969 Corps of Engineers report. According to a 2001 report by the Federation of American Scientists, the MH-1A reactor had a total of five cores during its operational life. It used low-enriched uranium (LEU) in

8475-655: The nuclear fuel cycle. A major downblending undertaking called the Megatons to Megawatts Program converts ex-Soviet weapons-grade HEU to fuel for U.S. commercial power reactors. From 1995 through mid-2005, 250 tonnes of high-enriched uranium (enough for 10,000 warheads) was recycled into low-enriched uranium. The goal is to recycle 500 tonnes by 2013. The decommissioning programme of Russian nuclear warheads accounted for about 13% of total world requirement for enriched uranium leading up to 2008. This ambitious initiative not only addresses nuclear disarmament goals but also serves as

8588-547: The ones produced during D–T fusion . HEU is also used in fast neutron reactors , whose cores require about 20% or more of fissile material, as well as in naval reactors , where it often contains at least 50% U, but typically does not exceed 90%. These specialized reactor systems rely on highly enriched uranium for their unique operational requirements, including high neutron flux and precise control over reactor dynamics. The Fermi-1 commercial fast reactor prototype used HEU with 26.5% U. Significant quantities of HEU are used in

8701-455: The past two decades, the most notable of these countries being Iran and North Korea, though all countries have had very limited success up to this point. Atomic vapor laser isotope separation employs specially tuned lasers to separate isotopes of uranium using selective ionization of hyperfine transitions . The technique uses lasers tuned to frequencies that ionize U atoms and no others. The positively charged U ions are then attracted to

8814-571: The process. In October   2021, the enterprise was rebranded Hitachi   Energy . In 2019, Hitachi sold its medical imaging business to Fujifilm for US$ 1.7 billion. Showa Denko bought Hitachi Chemical from Hitachi and other shareholders, at US$ 42.97 per share. Until then, Hitachi Chemical had been considered to be a core unit of the group. Hitachi also suspended the ABWR development by its British subsidiary Horizon Nuclear Power as it did not provide adequate "economic rationality as

8927-494: The production of medical isotopes , for example molybdenum-99 for technetium-99m generators . The medical industry benefits from the unique properties of highly enriched uranium, which enable the efficient production of critical isotopes essential for diagnostic imaging and therapeutic applications Isotope separation is difficult because two isotopes of the same element have nearly identical chemical properties, and can only be separated gradually using small mass differences. ( U

9040-602: The range of 4 to 7 %, with a total amount of uranium-235 supplied being 541.4 kilograms (for the five cores). The Sturgis was eventually replaced by two 21 MW Hitachi turbines, one on the Pacific side of the isthmus and one on the Atlantic side. The MH-1A plant was retired from service in 1976 since the Army Reactor Program had been discontinued, and, as a unique prototype, operation cost for

9153-430: The release of energy during detonation. For the secondary of a large nuclear weapon, the higher critical mass of less-enriched uranium can be an advantage as it allows the core at explosion time to contain a larger amount of fuel. This design strategy optimizes the explosive yield and performance of advanced nuclear weapons systems. The U is not said to be fissile but still is fissionable by fast neutrons (>2 MeV) such as

9266-432: The same separation than the older gaseous diffusion process, which it has largely replaced and so is the current method of choice and is termed second generation . It has a separation factor per stage of 1.3 relative to gaseous diffusion of 1.005, which translates to about one-fiftieth of the energy requirements. Gas centrifuge techniques produce close to 100% of the world's enriched uranium. The cost per separative work unit

9379-460: The server-side system. Other contactless fare card systems such as ICOCA and PASMO have been introduced throughout the country since, almost all of which are modelled after Suica and thus mutually compatible. It is now widely used as a contactless payment system in non-railway business as well, and Hitachi has been involved in the series of developments in this area. At the CES 2007 , Hitachi revealed

9492-457: The technology could contribute to nuclear proliferation . The fear of nuclear proliferation arose in part due to laser separation technology requiring less than 25% of the space of typical separation techniques, as well as requiring only the energy that would power 12 typical houses, putting a laser separation plant that works by means of laser excitation well below the detection threshold of existing surveillance technologies. Due to these concerns

9605-486: The technology, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) signed a commercialization agreement with Silex Systems in 2006. GEH has since built a demonstration test loop and announced plans to build an initial commercial facility. Details of the process are classified and restricted by intergovernmental agreements between United States, Australia, and the commercial entities. SILEX has been projected to be an order of magnitude more efficient than existing production techniques but again,

9718-510: The term 'Calutron' applies to a multistage device arranged in a large oval around a powerful electromagnet. Electromagnetic isotope separation has been largely abandoned in favour of more effective methods. One chemical process has been demonstrated to pilot plant stage but not used for production. The French CHEMEX process exploited a very slight difference in the two isotopes' propensity to change valency in oxidation/reduction , using immiscible aqueous and organic phases. An ion-exchange process

9831-526: The total revenue in FY2022. Founded in 1910 in Ibaraki Prefecture by electrical engineer Namihei Odaira, Hitachi's first product was Japan's inaugural 4-kilowatt induction motor, designed for copper mining. Originally an in-house venture of Fusanosuke Kuhara's mining company, Hitachi became independent in 1911 and moved its headquarters to Tokyo in 1918. The company's name 'Hitachi', combining

9944-503: The total revenue in FY2022. In the Connective Industries segment, Hitachi offers building systems such as elevators and escalators, healthcare with a focus on less invasive cancer treatments and diverse medical equipment, and a variety of industrial equipment such as air compressors and transformers. Additionally, the segment provides sustainable water and wastewater management. This segment accounted for 27.3 per cent of

10057-579: The total revenue in FY2022. The Green Energy and Mobility segment focuses on developing and providing power systems. This includes power generation, transmission, and distribution systems. In the rail industry, the company is a provider of rolling stock and traction equipment to signaling, traffic management systems, and maintenance depots. A key component of this segment is the ZeroCarbon suite, designed to enable fleet operators to transition to electric vehicles. This segment accounted for 22.9 per cent of

10170-507: The undesirable isotope uranium-236 , which undergoes neutron capture , wasting neutrons (and requiring higher U enrichment) and creating neptunium-237 , which would be one of the more mobile and troublesome radionuclides in deep geological repository disposal of nuclear waste. Reprocessed uranium often carries traces of other transuranic elements and fission products, necessitating careful monitoring and management during fuel fabrication and reactor operation. Low-enriched uranium (LEU) has

10283-483: The unit was high. Also, the Panama Canal Company acquired additional land-based electrical capacity and in 1976 it was determined that the Sturgis was no longer needed. It operated at an effective annual capacity factor of 0.56 over nine years. Between December 1976 and January 1977, the power barge was towed back to the United States, sustaining storm-related damage so severe that it had to divert to

10396-549: The use of uranium hexafluoride and produce enriched uranium oxide. Reprocessed uranium (RepU) undergoes a series of chemical and physical treatments to extract usable uranium from spent nuclear fuel. RepU is a product of nuclear fuel cycles involving nuclear reprocessing of spent fuel . RepU recovered from light water reactor (LWR) spent fuel typically contains slightly more U than natural uranium , and therefore could be used to fuel reactors that customarily use natural uranium as fuel, such as CANDU reactors . It also contains

10509-456: The venture to MHI. In October 2015, Hitachi completed a deal with Johnson Controls to form a joint venture that would take over Hitachi's HVAC business. Hitachi maintained a 40% stake in the resulting company, Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning. In May 2016, Hitachi announced it was investing $ 2.8 billion into its IoT interests. Hitachi’s rail business in Europe , especially in

10622-406: The world's first electric train seat reservation system, MARS-1 , for Japanese National Railways , allowing nationwide booking for express train seats. Around the same time, Hitachi began expanding its business overseas, with the establishment of Hitachi America, Ltd. 1959. In 1961, Hitachi began selling fully-automated washing machines and completed its first experimental nuclear reactor. In 1964,

10735-417: The world's first fully MOX -fuelled nuclear power station, Fugen . This was an innovative initiative, as MOX was seen as an efficient way of utilising plutonium from nuclear waste, which would otherwise have to be stored in security to ensure that it is not used to build nuclear weapons. In 1978, Hitachi's Twin-Well Hi- CMOS process ushered in a new era in the global semiconductor industry . For instance,

10848-669: The world's first high-speed railway line, the Shinkansen , opened. Hitachi not only built the innovative Series 0 rolling stock but also played a crucial part in developing the equally pioneering Automatic Train Control system (ATC) and the Computer-Aided Traffic Control System (COMTRAC). These contributions helped achieve the Shinkansen's punctual and safe operation. In 1977, Hitachi completed

10961-473: The world's three largest manufacturers by revenue all being Japanese companies by 1987, amongst which Hitachi was counted. Hitachi Europe, Ltd. was established in 1982. In 2001, the contactless fare card system Suica was introduced at 424 JR East stations throughout the Greater Tokyo Area. While the card itself was developed using Sony 's FeliCa system, Hitachi was responsible for building

11074-411: The world, produced mostly for nuclear power , nuclear weapons, naval propulsion , and smaller quantities for research reactors . The U remaining after enrichment is known as depleted uranium (DU), and is considerably less radioactive than even natural uranium, though still very dense. Depleted uranium is used as a radiation shielding material and for armor-penetrating weapons . Uranium as it

11187-549: The world. Thermal diffusion uses the transfer of heat across a thin liquid or gas to accomplish isotope separation. The process exploits the fact that the lighter U gas molecules will diffuse toward a hot surface, and the heavier U gas molecules will diffuse toward a cold surface. The S-50 plant at Oak Ridge, Tennessee , was used during World War II to prepare feed material for the Electromagnetic isotope separation (EMIS) process, explained later in this article. It

11300-424: Was abandoned in favor of gaseous diffusion. The gas centrifuge process uses a large number of rotating cylinders in series and parallel formations. Each cylinder's rotation creates a strong centripetal force so that the heavier gas molecules containing U move tangentially toward the outside of the cylinder and the lighter gas molecules rich in U collect closer to the center. It requires much less energy to achieve

11413-537: Was also transferred, becoming part of Mitsubishi Power. Other former businesses Hitachi had had include the following: Hitachi has research partnerships with several universities, and funds research centres within these universities. Hitachi-UTokyo Lab., which is a joint research centre with the Faculty of Engineering , University of Tokyo , focuses on the realisation of data-driven and more efficient society (Former Chairman and UTokyo alumnus Hiroaki Nakanishi coined

11526-533: Was completed in March 2012. In January 2012, Hitachi announced it would stop producing televisions in Japan. In September 2012, Hitachi announced that it had invented a long-term data solution out of quartz glass that was capable of preserving information for millions of years. In October 2012, Hitachi agreed to acquire the United Kingdom-based nuclear energy company Horizon Nuclear Power , which plans to construct up to six nuclear power plants in

11639-565: Was delayed waiting for the city to issue a permit for the decommissioning. The Army started the move in April 2015, to be completed in mid-May. The ship arrived in Brownsville, TX on September 26, 2018 and scrapped by 2019. Enriched uranium Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 (written U) has been increased through the process of isotope separation . Naturally occurring uranium

11752-535: Was developed by the Asahi Chemical Company in Japan that applies similar chemistry but effects separation on a proprietary resin ion-exchange column. Plasma separation process (PSP) describes a technique that makes use of superconducting magnets and plasma physics . In this process, the principle of ion cyclotron resonance is used to selectively energize the U isotope in a plasma containing

11865-501: Was enriched. This covert terminology underscores the secrecy and sensitivity surrounding the production of highly enriched uranium during World War II, highlighting the strategic importance of the Manhattan Project and its role in the development of nuclear weapons. The term oralloy is still occasionally used to refer to enriched uranium. Hitachi Hitachi, Ltd. ( Japanese pronunciation: [çi̥taꜜtɕi] )

11978-662: Was formally "accepted" by the Army on 25 July 1967. The Sturgis remained at the pier for another 11 months, supplying power to Fort Belvoir, while the Corps of Engineers sought a suitable permanent site. In spring 1968, the US State Department entered into negotiations with the Panama Canal Company, and the Sturgis was towed out of Gunston Cove in late July 1968, arriving Gatun Lake on 7 August. After testing at Fort Belvoir for five months starting in January 1967, Sturgis

12091-612: Was hull number 3145, and not as sometimes supposed SS  William Sturgis , another liberty ship (hull number 800, scrapped in 1969). Fort Belvoir , Virginia, was the headquarters of the Army Corps of Engineers and, beginning in 1954, the corps' newly created Army Reactors Branch. This unit was established by the Department of Defense to develop compact nuclear power plants that could be utilized to supply heat and power at remote locations. The army's first nuclear power reactor,

12204-536: Was integrated with Hitachi Vantara in 2019. On November 1, 2023, Hitachi spun off Hitachi Vantara LLC's digital solutions business into a new company, Hitachi Digital Services; Hitachi Vantara now focuses on its storage and hybrid cloud-centric data infrastructure services portfolio. Among other things, Hitachi Metals supplies materials for aircraft engines and fuselage components (e.g. landing gear), along with finished components for same and other aerospace applications. It also provides materials, components and tools for

12317-725: Was later terminated in 2021. In 2017, KKR also bought Hitachi's power tools subsidiary Hitachi Koki for US$ 1.3 billion, changing its name to Koki Holdings (HiKOKI) and marketing its tools as Metabo HPT in the US market. In 2018, Hitachi stopped selling televisions in Japan because its market share had dropped to 1%, opting to sell Sony TVs through its existing dealer network. On March 14, 2018, Zoomdata announced its partnership with Hitachi INS Software to help develop big data analytics market in Japan. In December 2018, Hitachi Ltd. announced it would take over 80% of ABB 's power grid division for $ 6.4 billion renaming it Hitachi-ABB Power Grids in

12430-580: Was moored in Gunston Cove, near the SM-1 facility. Dredging a channel between the main course of the Potomac River and the shoreline of Gunston Cove began on 30 November 1964. At the same time, construction of an access road, power lines and the pier began, just below the SM-1 reactor facility. The Sturgis arrived at the new Gunston Cove pier on 22 April 1966, having been towed from Mobile, Alabama. The MH-1A reactor first went critical on 24 January 1967 and

12543-632: Was obtained by Memphis State University Center for Nuclear Studies in the early 1980s, but was never restored or returned to operational service. Its fate is unknown after the Center for Nuclear Studies closed. The reactor was built for the U.S. Army by Martin Marietta under a $ 17,200,000 contract (August 1961), with construction starting in 1963. The reactor was built in Sturgis , a converted Liberty ship formerly known as SS  Charles H. Cugle . Sturgis (named after General Samuel D. Sturgis Jr. )

12656-675: Was then moored in the James River outside Fort Eustis , Virginia and became part of the James River Reserve Fleet for 37 years, till 2015. On March 27, 2014, the US Army Corps of Engineers awarded a $ 34,663,325.34 contract to Chicago Bridge & Iron (CB&I) for the decommissioning, dismantling and disposal of the MH-1A nuclear reactor installed on the Sturgis barge. The reactor had already been de-fueled, decontaminated, and sealed before being towed to

12769-623: Was towed to the Panama Canal Zone . The reactor supplied 10 MW (13,000 hp) electricity to the Panama Canal Zone from October 1968 to 1975. A water shortage in early 1968 jeopardized both the efficient operation of the Panama Canal locks and the production of hydroelectric power for the Canal Zone. Vast amounts of water were required to operate the locks and the water level on Gatun Lake fell drastically during

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