GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy

In 1955, the Atomic Power Equipment Department was established by GE. Two years later, in 1957, GE's first privately financed nuclear power reactor provided electricity for commercial use in Vallecitos, California. Additionally, in 1960, GE made and contributed to the Dresden Nuclear Power Station in Chicago. In the 1960s, it got involved in constructing and building the first boiling water reactor (BWR). The research into the project continued for the next 50 years resulting in the production of 6 different generations of BWRs. In 1997, the GE-Hitachi U.S. advanced boiling water reactor (ABWR) design was certified as a final design in final form by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

GE and Hitachi officially established the GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) global alliance in 2007 by combining parts of their respective power businesses. Based in Wilmington, North Carolina, its main business is creating and supplying BWRs and giving assistance with boiling water and pressurized water reactors. In Canada, the organization was known as GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada. It provided fuel and serviced nuclear power plants that operate on heavy water reactors made by Atomic Energy Canada. In 2016, GE and Hitachi sold GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada to BWXT Canada Ltd., and it was renamed BWXT Nuclear Energy Canada.

In 2005, GE Hitachi filed a design certification by the USNRC for their Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR). The ESBWR received a positive Safety Evaluation Report and Final Design Approval on March 9, 2011. On June 7, 2011, the USNRC completed its public comment period. Final rule was issued on September 16, 2014, after two outstanding problems with GE-Hitachi's modeling of loads on the steam dryer were solved. In 2013, following its purchase of Horizon Nuclear Power, Hitachi began the process of generic design assessment of the Hitachi-GE ABWR with the UK Office for Nuclear Regulation. The process was completed in December 2017.

In January 2020, the company started the regulatory licensing process for the BWRX-300 with the USNRC, and in 2023 it had begun the licensing process for the BWRX-300 in the UK.

Nuclear services

GVH offers services for adapting plant performance and power output as well as maintenance for extending plant life as nuclear plants get older and worldwide demand for energy increases. It also offers nuclear power services in many other areas, including outage services, general plant upgrades, inspections, and virtual reality training simulators.

Boiling water reactors

GE and Hitachi have both developed boiling water reactors for over 60 years, with 40 reactors currently operating in 5 countries. BWRs and pressurized water reactors (PWRs) both use light water as a coolant and steam source, but BWRs generate steam directly in the reactor core, while PWRs use a secondary loop to produce steam.

Sodium fast reactors