Development of Next-generation Boiling Water Reactor

Fig. 1—Development of Next-generation BWR. Based on its successes in the development of the ABWR, Hitachi is collaborating with General Electric Company on design and confirmation testing work to commercialize the ESBWR, and development of a next-generation BWR is underway as part of a national project run as a public-private partnership that is looking ahead to the era of large-scale construction projects in the 2030s and beyond. OVERVIEW: Since its participation in the construction of the BWR at the Tsuruga Power Station Unit 1 (357 MWe) for The Japan Atomic Power Company in 1970, Hitachi has successfully completed the construction of more than 20 nuclear power plants. Plant reliability and output levels have improved since that time, and during 1996 and 1997 Hitachi joined with General Electric Company of the USA and Toshiba Corporation to complete construction of the first two ABWRs at Units 6 and 7 of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station of The Tokyo Electric Power Company. Since then, Hitachi has undertaken a wide range of nuclear reactor development work to meet the needs of customers based on its experience handling the design and construction of all ABWRs to date, both in and outside Japan, and including plants in the planning stage. Now, for the first time in about twenty years, a national project has been initiated in Japan to develop a new light water reactor. In addition to playing a leading role in this project, Hitachi is also working with GE in the USA on design and confirmation testing as part of the ESBWR development project.