High-power nuclear reactor deal

Two Japanese firms and an American electronics company have agreed to jointly develop a high-power nuclear reactor which will generate thirty per cent more energy than conventional reactors.

General Electric Co of the US, and the Tokyo-based companies Toshiba Corp and Hitachi Ltd. hope to sell their new type of reactor in Asia, Europe and the US.

The Japanese news agency Kyoto quoted company sources as saying the reactor will cost about two hundred million dollars -- half the price of a traditional nuclear reactor.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service