SAfrica asks Mitsubishi Heavy to join advanced nuclear reactor project - report

TOKYO, Dec 03, 2007 (Thomson Financial via COMTEX) -- MHVYF | charts | news | PowerRating -- The South African government has called on Japanese engineering and shipbuilding company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd to provide capital to aid development of a new generation of small nuclear reactors, the Nikkei reported at the weekend without citing sources.

The South African government has set up a company, Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (Pty) Ltd, to develop new nuclear power technology and plans to spend some 1 trillion yen over the next 20 years to build 24 small installations, the business daily said.

Unlike conventional light water reactors, the pebble bed modular reactors would use helium to cool the reactor and drive the turbines.

The nuclear fuel would be in the form of small spheres, simplifying reactor designs compared with facilities that use fuel rods, the report said.

The reactors would generate one-sixth as much power as their midsize fuel rod counterparts, which are the standard worldwide, it said.

Westinghouse Electric Co, a unit of Japanese electronics group Toshiba Corp, is also weighing up a request from South Africa to more than double its current stake in the state-owned firm, the Nikkei said.

(1 US dollar = 111.16 yen)

yasuhiko.seki@thomson.com

MMMM

Morning Coffee with TradingMarkets -- Free Newsletter

More News:   Market Updates | Stock Alerts | All Trading News | Stock Index