New Nukes Doomed in USA?

I always thought politics, the system and organizations caused this...not the inherent technology...

Westinghouse files for bankruptcy after Toshiba approval

Reuters, Kyodo, Ap

• Mar 29, 2017       

Toshiba Corp’s troubled U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors on Wednesday, as its parent seeks to limit losses that have plunged it into crisis.
A bankruptcy filing will allow Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse, whose nuclear plant projects have been dogged by delays and cost overruns, to renegotiate or break its construction contracts, although the utilities that own the projects would likely seek damages.
For Toshiba, the aim is to mitigate liabilities stemming from guarantees it provided backing the contractor’s work. Toshiba said Westinghouse-related liabilities totalled $9.8 billion (about ¥1 trillion) as of December.
Westinghouse said it has secured $800 million in financing to fund and protect its core businesses during its reorganization.
Toshiba President Satoshi Tsunakawa said the move was aimed at “shutting out risks from the overseas nuclear business.”
“We want to make this our first step toward recovering our solid business,” he told reporters after the announcement.
Toshiba, whose shares have crashed as Westinghouse’s problems surfaced, said in a statement it would guarantee up to $200 million of the financing for Westinghouse, adding that the troubled unit would be removed from its consolidated books at the end of the month.
Westinghouse, which made the filing at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, said its operations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa would not be impacted by the filing.
“We are focused on developing a plan of reorganization to emerge from Chapter 11 as a stronger company while continuing to be a global nuclear technology leader,” Westinghouse Interim President and CEO Jos Emeterio Gutirrez said in a statement.
The move will trigger complex negotiations between the Japanese conglomerate, its U.S. unit and creditors, and could embroil the U.S. and Japanese governments, given the scale of the collapse and U.S. government loan guarantees for new reactors.
A Westinghouse bankruptcy is a “concern” for the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, which is in touch with the Japanese government on the matter, an administration official said Tuesday.
“If several different things happen in a bad way, there’s a potential national security issue here,” the official said.
The nuclear-to-electronics conglomerate is looking to finalize losses related to the unit within the current fiscal year ending Friday through the bankruptcy filing.
In February, Toshiba said it was expecting a loss of $6.4 billion (¥712.5 billion) in its U.S. nuclear business for the nine months through December on an unaudited basis. The company had to delay its earnings announcement twice, saying it needed more time to look into an accounting problem at Westinghouse.
Faced with ballooning losses, Toshiba had been considering a way to distance itself from the fallout from the debacle at Westinghouse, which it bought in 2006 to expand its nuclear power business overseas.
The cash-strapped company has decided to spin off its prized memory chip business and sell a majority stake, or even the whole operation, to raise funds to bolster its financial standing.