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


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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.


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