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Posted by Mark Resnicoff Aug 10, 2008 |
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI), a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Group, received an order from Belgium’s Electrabel to supply two replacement steam generators for Reactor 1 at the Doel Nuclear Power Plant. The generators are core components of pressurized water reactors (PWR).
Mitsubishi is not new to the nuclear power industry. In 1971, this company built Japan’s first nuclear plant that utilizes pressurized water reactor technology, Mihama-1. In total, MHI has built 23 nuclear power plants in Japan and another currently under construction, due to begin commercial operations in 2009.
This is not Mitsubishi’s first job in Belgium. With the completion of this order in September 2009, MHI will have supplied 10 of 19 steam generators at Belgium’s nuclear power plants. Prior to this order, MHI has placed three steam generators in both units at the Tihange nuclear plant and the last two were delivered to the Doel-2 reactor in 2004.
Mitsubishi has received additional nuclear power equipment orders from the United States and France.
Before researching Belgium’s atomic energy program, I never knew Mitsubishi was involved in the nuclear power industry. Not only have they placed equipment in three different countries, they plan to actively pursue future business opportunities throughout the U.S. and European markets. Obviously, Mitsubishi does a lot more than just build automobiles.