June 27 (Bloomberg) -- Shares of Toshiba Corp. rose on speculation the company will get a 600 billion yen ($4.9 billion) order for nuclear equipment in the U.S., beating General Electric Co. and Hitachi Ltd.

NRG Energy Inc. chose Toshiba's reactors, the Nikkei reported, without saying where it got the information. The companies are in talks, Toshiba spokesman Keisuke Ohmori said in Tokyo, declining to give details. NRG spokesman David Knox wouldn't comment.

The contract to install two reactors near Houston, Texas, would mark the first success since Toshiba paid $4.16 billion for 77 percent of Westinghouse Electric Co., a nuclear supplier. Toshiba has targeted the U.S. and China to more than triple nuclear sales by 2015 and reduce reliance on semiconductors, which account for half of operating profit.

``The order, if won, would address the increase in risk'' caused by the purchase of Monroeville, Pennsylvania- based Westinghouse, said Takeo Miyamoto, a Tokyo-based analyst at CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets. He rates the company ``underperform.''

Toshiba, Japan's biggest maker of nuclear power reactors by capacity, gained 0.3 percent to 1,027 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Toshiba Plant Systems & Services Corp., its power construction unit, rose 4.8 percent to 1,015 yen.

Princeton, New Jersey-based NRG Energy in June last year announced plans for the two 1.35 million-kilowatt boiling-water reactors, using equipment built by GE and Hitachi. The company said at the time the plants would cost $5.2 billion, and may begin operations as soon as 2014.

Hitachi spokeswoman Machiko Ikenoya said the company is not aware of any changes in NRG's intention to use its equipment and is still in talks with the power producer.

Annual sales at Toshiba's nuclear construction, maintenance and fuel businesses will probably rise to about 700 billion yen in 2015, from about 200 billion yen in the year ended March 2006, the company said in October.

To contact the reporter on this story: Pavel Alpeyev in Tokyo at palpeyev@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 27, 2007 04:08 EDT