The Shaw Group has joined hands with Toshiba Corporation and Exelon Nuclear Partners to provide a full complement of services to design, engineer, construct and operate new nuclear electric generating plants in Saudi Arabia.

Under the terms of the agreement, Toshiba and Shaw would provide design, engineering, procurement and construction while Exelon would provide operations and related services for the projects.

The trio will jointly pursue engineering, procurement, construction and operations of nuclear power plants using Toshiba’s Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR), a leading-edge nuclear power plant technology with already proven records of performance, reliability and operation in Japan.

The group also is capable of utilizing Westinghouse AP1000 technology, the leading-edge passively cooled nuclear technology, said a top official of Shaw Group, a leading provider of engineering, construction, technology, fabrication, remediation and support services.

“Shaw, Toshiba and Westinghouse are working collaboratively with customers to build four nuclear units in China and six new nuclear units in the US, the first contracts awarded in the US in nearly 30 years for new nuclear power plants,” said JM Bernhard Jr., Shaw’s chairman, president and chief executive officer.

“The addition of Exelon, which operates the largest nuclear power fleet in the United States, creates a team that is unmatched in its ability to offer a portfolio of technology, construction and operations in Saudi Arabia,” he added.

The Saudi government recently pledged its commitment to the research and funding of commercial nuclear power.

In April, King Abdullah had issued a royal order establishing the King Abdullah City for Nuclear and Renewable Energy, a high-level organization that will oversee all aspects of a nuclear power industry in Saudi Arabia.

Shaw currently is working in Saudi Arabia, performing a three-phase study to define and recommend operational improvements at 53 power plants throughout the Kingdom.

For any US company to engage in civilian nuclear cooperation with Saudi Arabia, the US and Saudi Arabian governments must negotiate a framework agreement that meets specific requirements under Section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act, followed by US congressional review of the agreement, the trio said.

Execution of any business arrangements for a Japanese company with a Saudi Arabian entity is also subject to the future conclusion of an 'Agreement for Co-operation' between Japanese and Saudi Arabian governments concerning Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy, they added.-TradeArabia News Service