Toshiba
Toshiba Corporation (株式会社東芝 Kabushiki-gaisha Tōshiba?) is a Japanese multinational engineering and electronics conglomerate corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.
Contents
Background
Nuclear interests
Westinghouse majority owner
In October 2006 BNFL sold Westinghouse to Toshiba and its partners The Shaw Group and IHI.[1] Toshiba later sold 10 percent of its interest to Kazatamprom, a company based in Kazakhastan. In September 2011 Toshiba bought out the Shaw Group's 20 per cent stake in Westinghouse and now controls 87 per cent of the firm. [2]
Nearly half of all nuclear power plants operating globally, and nearly 60 percent in the United States, are based on Westinghouse technology. In 2006 Westinghouse’s AP1000 became the first Generation III+ pressurised water reactor to receive Design Certification from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.[3]
Fukushima
In 1970 Toshiba, along with General Electric and Hitachi built the three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant[4] which suffered a triple meltdown in the massive earthquake and tsunami on 14 March 2011.
In the aftermath of the disaster Toshiba CEO Norio Sasaki declared nuclear energy would 'remain as a strong option'.[5]
In March 2013 Greenpeace accused all three companies of dodging their responsibilities in relation to Fukushima.
- Meanwhile, companies deeply involved in the design, construction and running of the reactors involved in the triple meltdown are not being held accountable. Shockingly in some cases, they are making more profits out of the disaster recovery. These companies, namely GE, Hitachi, and Toshiba who designed and built reactors at Fukushima Daiichi, have special rights under the Nuclear Damage Liability Law that protect them from product liability should there be a nuclear disaster. Essentially this means they can profit without worrying about the risks of a meltdown, since the public pays the damage should an accident happen.
- The estimated cost of the nuclear disaster is $250 billion US, an impossible figure for any single company - even TEPCO, one of the largest power companies in the world. It is why compensation and life support for the people affected is not what it should be, and why 3.2 trillion yen ($43.7 bn) of Japanese taxpayers money has been injected into the company.
- We have been talking with GE, Hitachi and Toshiba, however, when it comes to a question of their responsibility, they simply point to their existing Corporate Social Responsibility webpage or report, where they present their charitable activities in response to the earthquake and tsunami. They have avoided explaining their responsibility in the Fukushima nuclear disaster as a supplier of critical equipment. [6]
Affiliations
People
Contact, Resources and Notes
Contact
- Website:
Resources
Notes
- ↑ Toshiba completes Westinghouse acquisition, Westinghouse Press Release 17 October 2006, accessed 29 August 2012.
- ↑ The Associated Press, Shaw Group to sell its stake in Westinghouse, 6 September 6, 2011, accessed 9 September 2012.
- ↑ Timeline 2000-2007, Westinghouse website, accessed 29 August 2012.
- ↑ Nuclear Reactor Maps: Fukushima-Daiichi. Nuclear Transparency in the Asia Pacific. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
- ↑ Maki Shiraki,Silver lining in sight for makers of solar panels, 22 April 2011, The Japan Times online|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5y9cK8XNe%7Carchivedate=April 23, 2011|
- ↑ Hisayo Takada , General Electric, Toshiba & Hitachi hide from their responsibilities in Fukushima, Greenpeace blogpost, 5 March 2013, acc October 2013
