Massive cost overruns and long construction delays plunge Toshiba-Westinghouse into "nuclear nightmare"

"Burning money" graphic designed by Gene Case of Avening Angels was featured on The Nation Magazine's cover in 2003, accompanying Christian Parenti's feature article on the nuclear power relapse in the U.S.As reported by Bloomberg, Toshiba-Westinghouse has been plunged into a financial "nuclear nightmare" -- with losses amounting to $4 to 5 billion (yes, with a B!) -- around one-thrid of its stock value -- due to cost overruns mounting into the billions of dollars, and years-long schedule delays, at four new reactor construction sites in the U.S.

Toshiba, a Japanese firm, took over the U.S. nuclear giant Westinghouse in 2006.

The debacle stems from Toshiba-Westinghouse's acquisition of the Chicago Bride & Iron (CBI) new reactor construction firm, in a vain attempt to get control of skyrocketing costs at the Vogtle 3 & 4 reactors construction site in Georgia, and the Summer 2 & 3 reactors construction site in South Carolina.

Toshiba-Westinghouse's AP-1000 (so-called Advanced Passive, 1,100 Megawatt-electric) reactor design was touted as the flagship of the so-called "Nuclear Renaissance" not only in the U.S. but internationally. More.