News Releases
Toshiba Submits Application to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to Renew and Amend ABWR Design Certification
Washington D.C., November 4 — Toshiba Corporation has submitted its application to the NRC to renew and amend the U.S. Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) design certification on November 2, 2010. The current ABWR design certification was issued in 1997 and expires in June 2012.
Toshiba's ABWR is a leading-edge nuclear power plant technology with already proven records of performance, reliability and operation in Japan. Toshiba has built ABWRs in Japan including the world-first ABWR, Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Unit No.6, owned and operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which started commercial operation on November 7, 1996.
Toshiba's renewal and amendment application for the certified ABWR design incorporates new design features which take advantage of this successful operating experience in Japan. These design features are also incorporated into the design submitted to the NRC for approval as part of the combined license application for two new ABWRs at the South Texas Project, STP 3 & 4.
Submittal of this application represents a great step forward in offering proven ABWR technology to the US market as a key power generation option and in meeting US customers' demand in the next decade and beyond.