As Westinghouse Files for Bankruptcy, US Assures India over N-Cooperation

New Delhi: Reaffirming its commitment to nuclear cooperation with India, the US Embassy on Wednesday made it clear that American government is closely monitoring developments at Westinghouse Electric Co and Toshiba Corporation after the US nuclear unit filed the Chapter 11 petition in the US Bankruptcy Court of New York.

Japan's embattled Toshiba Corp. said on Wednesday that its US reactor vendor Westinghouse has filed for bankruptcy protection, marking a key step in its struggles to stop the flow of massive red ink.

Speaking on the Westinghouse bankruptcy filing, a US Embassy spokesperson told CNN-News18, "We have been closely following developments at Westinghouse and Toshiba and we defer any questions regarding the financial situation of Toshiba or Westinghouse to those respective companies...We understand that Westinghouse continues to stand behind the delivery model that it presented in its Technical Commercial Offer (TCO) to India, which included an Indian construction partner, and looks forward to progress on an agreement in 2017".

"The AP1000 technology is a top quality option in nuclear power generation and the benefits for India, ranging from access to this technology to providing clean power to 60 million Indians, have not changed. We reaffirm US commitment to civil nuclear cooperation with India," the spokesperson added.

According to reports, Westinghouse has secured USD 800 million in financing to ensure that its current operations as well as its present construction projects will continue as before.

Toshiba had said it was expecting a loss of 500 billion yen ($4.3 billion) for April-December of last year, including a 712.5 billion yen ($6.2 billion) hit from its embattled nuclear business. It said on Wednesday that it was working out revised numbers, and warned that the loss for the fiscal year may grow to 1 trillion yen ($9 billion).

Toshiba had acquired Westinghouse in 2006 with much fanfare, making nuclear power an important part of its business strategy.

After the March 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima (Japan), costs of the business ballooned because of growing safety concerns and regulations, and a souring of sentiment toward nuclear power in some countries, such as Germany.

Toshiba was eager to get Westinghouse off its books to improve its plight. Toshiba said Westinghouse had racked up debt of $9.8 billion.