Hitachi Exhorts London to Nationalize Its Nuclear Project Materials and Products

Taking advantage of his visit to the World Economic Forum, the president of the Japanese conglomerate Hitachi is trying to revive a nuclear project he had to freeze for lack of sufficient funding in the United Kingdom. But after the abandonment by its Japanese competitor Toshiba of another project to build three new reactors in northwestern England, British nuclear seems to be down.

Hitachi president warned on Thursday that nationalization of his nuclear project in the UK was the only way to get the frozen project off the ground, the Nikkei press group reported.

"The only way is the nationalization" by the British authorities for the project to be launched, said Hiroaki Nakanishi, president of Hitachi, in front of journalists on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The Japanese industrial giant announced on January 17 the suspension of its plan to build two nuclear reactors in Anglesey, in North Wales. The plant was expected to have a production capacity of nearly 3 gigawatts, providing 6% of the country's current electricity needs.