back to article Toshiba chairman quits over $6bn nuclear loss

The chairman of Toshiba has resigned following the release of figures showing a projected $6.3bn loss from the company's nuclear business – a loss that may continue to grow and threaten its other businesses. Following a rollercoaster few weeks in which the electronics and energy giant said it would sell off 20 per cent of its …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    That's a real problem in the US; corporations are in control and inflate all earnings

    Reminds me of this clown who kept claiming he's worth US$10B dollars, yet can't offer any proof. In the US having $3 must mean you really have $10! It's maths!

    "two nuclear power stations being built in the US – one in South Carolina and another in Georgia. They are more than three years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget"

    Other than being two states with zero ability to pay for such contrivances, you have that Westinghouse that will offer "new-cue-lar" power plants to these hillbilly states on the promise of "new jobs" and "slashing those awful power prices" both of which never materialize. Then the locals get pissed and blame the gays and liberals for allowing this to happen to them, or the blacks, or anyone but themselves for letting their "representatives" trick them into purchasing something they don't really need. Because, do I have to say it; kickbacks. Just burn your coal and leave the first world problems to the states that can run at a profit, not at a deficit. Toshiba should have done more due diligence in researching those idiots, who could not make a refrigerator that does not suck dirty donkey balls. Yet they can manage highly dangerous power plants? I guess not. Here's a fun tidbit:

    "As of 2014 Westinghouse builds and operates approximately one-half of the world's operating nuclear plants"

    That is from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westinghouse_Electric_Company and that does not give me great comfort that these shitheads are not about have yet another accident...

    Let me tell you a story about a man named Jed. Poor idiot wanted on the "new-cue-lar power grid..." Then one day he was shooting at some Jews, and never realized his butt was royally screwed. By Westinghouse. They would never harm anybody. Would they? Nah, corporations are all your bestest buddies, muggles!

    1. Brian Miller

      Re: That's a real problem in the US; corporations are in control and inflate all earnings

      Actually, the mess started with a pipe company in Louisiana. (Bloomberg article) Then one lying deal went on to another lying deal, and finally it all got bought by Toshiba, who was wearing rose-colored glasses, and then it all went in the crapper.

      This is what happens when nuclear power plants get built by those without any expertise, and then the inspectors come along and cry foul. Toshiba should have stuck with its 4S plants, and avoided getting into the big plants. Especially when the "strategic acquisition" is Westinghouse, known for producing steam exchanges with cracking problems.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: That's a real problem in the US; corporations are in control and inflate all earnings

        Westinghouse, known for producing steam exchanges with cracking problems.

        You're quoting a 22-year-old article in the Christian "science" monitor, about a 50-year old reactor, to support an argument about a current construction project?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: That's a real problem in the US; corporations are in control and inflate all earnings

          While the article may be out of date, the Christian Science Monitor is generally* considered to be a respectable news organization, comparable to the New York Times. If you're actually interested in learning about the name and their affiliation with the Christian Science church, their about page (http://www.csmonitor.com/About) has lots of interesting details.

          *I say generally, because some people think that Fox News is dangerously centrist, and anything left of that is just insane liberal propaganda. And the CSM is definitely left of Fox News.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: That's a real problem in the US; corporations are in control and inflate all earnings

            the Christian Science Monitor is generally* considered to be a respectable news organization,

            Perhaps so, but Mary Baker Eddy wasn't by any stretch of the imagination a scientist. The basic tenet of "christian science" is that sickness can be cured by prayer alone. Not an especially practical belief when it comes to nuclear fission & its effects.

            CS has a museum in Boston which covers the belief system and has a fascinating glass Earth in the Mapparium.

            1. John Gamble
              Stop

              Re: That's a real problem in the US; corporations are in control and inflate all earnings

              Despite its title, the Christian Science Monitor (founded 1908) isn't a CS house organ. Indeed, whatever one may think of Mary Baker Eddy1, she did manage to found a paper that held journalistic standards better than most papers of the day.

              History: it's not just for the non-technical.

              (Having said that: yeah, the article quoted is a little too old for this subject.)

              ---

              1. Not religious myself, in case that's an issue with this thread.

  2. Mikel

    There is a crook in this story

    Actually, several. But the guy that sold the construction company got away clean with a lot of money by selling Westinghouse a sack full of debt and performance liabilities.

    The former Toshiba CEO and the Chairman who just quit aren't gonna disgorge their haul either.

    I guess these new nuclear power designs just aren't as lucrative as they are sold as.

    1. a_yank_lurker

      Re: There is a crook in this story

      Not sure if simple greed caused a massive screw up. The nuclear industry does not appear to be well anywhere for many reasons for a long time. So buying Westinghouse was below stupid not matter how they spin it and where they point fingers.

  3. Baldy50

    IDK

    Put critical control and power for cooling in a stupid place etc......

    Did they build the fuckupashima generating plant?

    1. Flocke Kroes Silver badge

      Re: IDK

      According to wakipedia, Fukushima Daiichi was designed, constructed an built by General Electric, Boise Cascade, and Tokyo Electric Power Company. The first pages for the wikipedia entries for each do not mention Toshiba or Westinghouse, so at a quick glance, neither built significant parts of Daiichi.

      Nuclear power need lots of water for cooling, so the obvious places to put them are coastal. All parts of Japan are at risk from earthquakes. Nuclear power stations run by Tohoku Electric Power which were closer to the epicentre of the earthquake survived because they had bigger sea walls. The site was not particularly stupid. The defences were inadequate and the warnings about them were ignored.

  4. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Unhappy

    CB&I Stone & Webster

    Sounds like this decades "HP busy Autonomy" deal.

    Only not quite as bad.

    Yet.

    BTW according to wikipedia Westinghouse was bought by BNFL in 1999 then sold to Toshiba in 2006. People like to retain the Westinghouse name because that's the business that won the US Navy nuclear submarine contract that got them the PWR design basically for nothing.

  5. Fatman
    Joke

    Time for some <sarcasm>traditional</sarcasm> Japanese 'restoration of honor' at Westinghouse

    Before he steps down as Chair, Shigenori Shiga should pay the US headquarters of Westinghouse a visit, bring his katana along with him.

    Call in the executives involved and remind them of how the Japanese atone1 for bringing shame to one's self, family or company. And have a carpet cleaning crew at hand to clean up the bloody mess.

    1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seppuku

    1. Crazy Operations Guy

      Re: Time for some <sarcasm>traditional</sarcasm> Japanese 'restoration of honor' at Westinghouse

      Ah, a commentor with the handle "Fat Man" commenting on an article about Japanese nuclear energy while misunderstanding a foreign culture. I think I'm safe in assuming that you are an American...

  6. Alistair
    Coat

    Toshiba, westinghouse, shafted.

    "The nuclear industry does not appear to be well anywhere for many reasons for a long time."

    India, France, Canada, even to a certain extent China. Not much of either GE or Westinghouse there.

    Things that make you go hmmm.

    Bad middle management decisions about cost cutting around an industry with tolerances of less than 0 for error. Mostly due to poorly educated committees making rules for technology they've been taught to be terrified of for the last 55 years.

    Things the make you go hmmm.

    I can see the Japanese end of Toshiba making things as right as they can, but in the end throwing out the entire bathtub. Baby, water and foamy bits to get clear of this mess.

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