US companies to consult GCC on nuclear development

GCC countries are paving the way for their entry into the nuclear age.

US companies Lightbridge Corp. and Excelon will cooperate in consulting GCC countries on the development of their nuclear sector, writes the Dow Jones Newswire.

Lightbridge, a consultancy firm that is developing a new form of nuclear fuel, said on Wednesday it had signed a six month consultancy agreement with each of the GCC countries.

The company will loosely cooperate with Excelon, the largest operator of nuclear reactors in the US, to share know-how, safety protocols and improve the purchasing power of nuclear fuel, Lightbridge Chief Executive Seth Grae in an interview with Dow Jones.

"It is important to have cooperation when the reactors are so close to each other [for safety reasons] and partly for economies of scale," Grae added.

Exelon will mainly help with assessments in areas including fuel security, setting up an emergency response system, training, research and human resources building.

Lightbridge is teaming up with other consultants to study regulatory and legal issues, plant reliability and waste management.

Chicago-based company Exelon, which operates 17 nuclear reactors in the U.S. at 10 sites, said the company set up a consulting unit roughly 18 months ago to help existing and new nuclear plants operate safely and efficiently.

It is a business that "right now looks very promising," but the effort is under ongoing review, Tom Mundy, vice president of nuclear development at Exelon, said in an interview.

He sees the Gulf consulting work as a way to drive growth in this business. "To be part of something like this is great to get the message out," Mundy said.
 

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FEATURED COMMENT Lightbridge has an interesting angle on nuclear plants where the fuel is thorium instead of uranium...the advantages are   1 Comments Read more comments »