Lockheed Martin Corp. will design and supply the main control-room systems for a new reactor from GE Hitachi, the nuclear reactor venture of General Electric Co. and Japan’s Hitachi Ltd., executives said in an interview.
The companies expect to deliver their first set of control rooms systems to India, where final negotiations are under way on a new Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor, by year-end if liability issues are resolved, said Danny Roderick, senior vice president for nuclear projects at GE Hitachi.
The agreement supports President Barack Obama’s objective of bolstering U.S. exports in an industry dominated by sovereign competitors. Terms weren’t disclosed.
“We’re very excited, especially about the forward progress we’ve been making in India,” Roderick. “This same partnership will work for us as a supply chain in the U.S. and a supply chain to Europe, the Middle East, and to other parts of the world where we’re taking our technology.”
The reactor is a front-runner to become the first next- generation model fully certified for U.S. construction by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is expected to complete its final rule-making on the design in the fourth quarter, Wilmington, North Carolina-based GE Hitachi said in a statement today.
Lockheed’s reputation as a systems integrator in defense, security software and energy facilitated discussions with the GE-Hitachi partnership for expansion into boiling-water reactors, said Dan Heller, the executive who oversees nuclear systems and solutions at Lockheed.
Lockheed, based in Bethesda, Maryland, built and maintains high-level security tracking systems for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and instrumentation and controls for the U.S. Navy.
