Japanese technology giant Toshiba says it has been named the preferred bidder for US power plant maker Westinghouse, beating out stiff competition from General Electric, which was reportedly supported by US President George W. Bush.
Toshiba said that if the deal went through with British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL), it would keep Westinghouse based in the northeastern US city of Pittsburgh, apparently an effort to calm US concerns about foreign control of its nuclear energy industry.
The Japanese company did not say how much it would pay BNFL but the Financial Times earlier reported it would be $5 billion - more than twice the $2 billion dollars expected when BNFL, which is controlled by the British government, put Westinghouse up for sale in July.
The Bush administration wants to relaunch construction of nuclear reactors in the United States as the cost of crude oil is soaring near record highs due to both geopolitical and supply concerns.
The United States turned away from nuclear power after a 1979 meltdown at the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania. No new reactor has been put into service in the US since 1996.
