Progress Energy nuke reactor built in China? WTF?

I didn't know it before, but apparently Westinghouse is a subsidiary of Toshiba, Japan. I can't tell from this article if the actual fabrication of the reactors will take place in the USA with USA labor, or the new Westinghouse building will just be there to receive the finished product from Japan.


We can build this stuff from stem to stern. Why do we have to purchase anything from Japan? What's the deal here? Japan is the world's largest holder of USA debt now. Do they buy our T-bills and in return we give them access to our markets? Is a deal of this size ($7.65B) approved by congressional committee? If so, who signed off on it? POTUS is in charge of trade issues - does it go through his office too?


Check out a copy of the Pittsburg Business Times article below.


Ted Page


__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Monday, January 5, 2009


Progress Energy taps Westinghouse, Shaw for nuclear plant work


Pittsburgh Business Times

Westinghouse Electric Co. has signed a $7.65 billion contract to build two nuclear plants in Florida, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.


Under terms of the contract, Westinghouse and Stone & Webster Inc., a subsidiary of Westinghouse partner The Shaw Group Inc., will provide design, engineering, procurement, and construction services for two nuclear electric-generating units for Progress Energy Florida, according to the SEC filing.


The contract price for the two units is about $7.65 billion, the SEC filing said, but the total price estimate that Progress Energy filed with the Florida Public Service Commission, including costs such as inflation, site preparation, financing and associated transmission facilities, is about $14 billion.


If regulatory approvals stay on schedule, current plans would be for the units to be substantially complete in the 2016 to 2018 time frame, the filing said.


Most of the project costs will be invested by the company and its shareholders and will not be recovered from customers through rates until the plant goes into service, according to a release from Progress Energy Florida However, starting this month, customers will begin paying for a portion of the costs of the project as approved by the PSC, the release said.


Progress Energy Florida also said in the SEC filing that it expects to have substantial joint ownership in the project and will make an announcement on additional owners when those negotiations are completed.


Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse has several multi-billion dollar deals to build nuclear reactors in the southern U.S. and in China. Currently housed in the eastern Pittsburgh suburb of Monroeville, Westinghouse is building a new headquarters facility north of Pittsburgh, in Cranberry Township. It is a subsidiary of Japan-based Toshiba Corp.


Progress Energy Florida, headquartered in St. Petersburg, provides electricity and related services to about 1.7 million customers in Florida. It’s a subsidiary of Progress Energy (NYSE: PGN), headquartered in Raleigh, N.C.


All contents of this site © American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.

Dumbass of the year

And the winner is...............................................


Janet Incompetano!

Tough to pick a winner in the current administration, but it’s hard to argue with this!

Yes, Janet Napolitano, DEMOCRAT from Arizona.

For listing Tea Party protester, Southern Christians and returning members of the military as potential domestic terrorist and right-wing extremists… you are a dumbass.

For renaming the ongoing “War on Terror” as an “Overseas Contingency”… you are a dumbass.

For dropping the word “terrorism” from the government lexicon… you are a dumbass.

For saying that the terrorist attack on 9/11/01 was really a “man-caused disaster”… you are a dumbass.

For claiming that ILLEGAL immigration is not a crime…you are a dumbass.

For declaring that the Canadian border was more dangerous than the Mexican border… you are a dumbass.

For stating that the Muslim Terrorist attacks on 9/11 came from Canada … you are a dumbass.

For allowing the spread of Swine Flu by not testing travelers from Swine Flu ground zero in Mexico … you are a dumbass.

For comparing a fence along the US southern border to the Berlin Wall… you are a dumbass.

For claiming that Homeland Security’s “system worked” when all could see it failed… you are a dumbass.

For walking back your “system worked” comment with “system failed”… you are a dumbass.

Janet for you just being you… you are a dumbass.

So congratulations Janet Incompetano!!

Deserving of awards and accolades to have failed so much in one short year you are the winning loser!

''Life's tough...it's even tougher if you're stupid.''
-- John Wayne"

Great quote - author unknown

The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the presidency. It will be easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to an electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails us. Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The republic can survive a Barack Obama. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president.

Recognition of George W. Bush by the Obama Administration

It has just been announced that the Obama Administration will be honoring the 43rd President of the United States by naming the gap between the tectonic plates beneath Haiti after him.


The area will now officially be referred to as "Bush's Fault".

7 lies in under 2 minutes

State of the Union Address

It's all Bush's fault!