TOKYO (Kyodo) — Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. said Friday it is not aware of details in a recently released government document on Japan’s investment in the United States that mentions the company’s possible involvement in nuclear reactor construction.
“I have not heard of the details,” Mitsubishi Heavy President Eisaku Ito said at a press conference on the company’s earnings results, referring to the “Joint Fact Sheet for Japan-U.S. Investment” released by the two governments during U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Japan late last month.
The paper listed Mitsubishi Heavy, along with Toshiba Group and IHI Corp., as among the Japanese companies considering involvement in U.S. nuclear firm Westinghouse Electric Corp.’s construction of nuclear reactors and small modular reactors.
The document, which mentions 21 projects including the one by Westinghouse, came as Japan pledged to invest $550 billion in key U.S. industries in return for lower tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump under a bilateral trade deal reached in July.
While Mitsubishi Heavy is involved in manufacturing nuclear reactor containers and related equipment, Ito said, “We are a manufacturer, not an investment company. We will make judgments…according to price and other conditions.”
Noting that demand in the nuclear power sector remains solid in Japan, Ito said, “We will prioritize domestic projects.”
On the Westinghouse project, the fact sheet showed that the total investment is expected to reach up to $100 billion.