GE Hitachi inks Indian nuclear deals

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy will collaborate with two Indian nuclear companies on building multiple nuclear reactors.

A world-leading nuclear technology and services provider, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy or GEH, signed separate agreements with Mumbai-based Nuclear Power Corporation of India or NPCIL, India’s only nuclear utility operating 17 reactors, and New Delhi-based Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited or BHEL, the country’s leading manufacturer and supplier of power generation equipment and components.

The two government-owned companies are helping lead India’s efforts to expand electricity generation from nuclear energy in the world’s largest democracy more than tenfold over the next two decades, from 4.1 GW today to 60 GW by 2032.

Under the preliminary agreements, GEH will begin planning with NPCIL and BHEL for the necessary resources in manufacturing and construction management for a potential multiple-unit Advanced Boiling Water Reactor or ABWR nuclear power station. The 1,350-MW ABWR technology is the world’s only commercially proven Generation III reactor design, with the first two of four units entering service in 1996 and 1997 and four additional units under construction.