Selection of Upstate New York Site is Key Step in Process Prior to UniStar
Submission of License Application in Fourth Quarter of 2008
BALTIMORE, Feb. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- UniStar Nuclear Energy
(UNE), a strategic joint venture between Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG)
and the EDF Group, today announced it has notified the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) of its plans to submit a Combined License (COL)
application in late 2008 for a potential advanced design nuclear reactor at
Constellation Energy's Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station in upstate New York.
UNE submitted a letter on Feb. 8 to the NRC formally selecting Nine
Mile Point as the site for a potential U.S. Evolutionary Power Reactor
(U.S. EPR). UniStar noted that it has yet to make a final decision to build
a new reactor at Nine Mile Point.
"This notification to the NRC is an important step in UniStar's plans
to develop Nine Mile Point as a potential site for one of four advanced
design reactors in the United States," said Michael J. Wallace, chairman of
UniStar and executive vice president of Constellation Energy. "We have not
made a final decision to construct a new reactor but we are moving ahead
systematically in both Maryland and New York, and will make any decisions
on where construction might take place based upon many factors."
Wallace noted that New York officials have been extremely supportive of
the proposed 1,600 megawatt reactor, a carbon-free generation project that
would help address a projected shortage of electricity in New York, create
several thousand construction jobs and add more than 350 permanent jobs.
UniStar submitted a partial COL application for its so-called
"reference" plant, a proposed third reactor adjacent to Constellation
Energy's Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Plant in southern Maryland, in July 2007.
The NRC accepted the submittal for detailed review on Jan. 25, 2008.
UniStar plans to submit the remaining portions of the COL application next
month. In December 2007, UniStar's partner in the U.S. nuclear renaissance,
reactor-manufacturer AREVA, submitted the design certification application
for the U.S. EPR to the NRC. Late last year, UniStar announced an agreement
with turbine-generator supplier Alstom to secure the turbine-generator
systems for the first four U.S. EPRs.
"We are working to be in a position to make a decision to break ground
for a new reactor at the Calvert Cliffs site at the end of 2008, depending
upon the outcome of several issues, including economics and federal loan
guarantees," Wallace said.
In addition to advanced design reactors in New York and Maryland,
UniStar is also working with PPL and AmerenUE, as well as emerging energy
companies such as AEHI and Amarillo Power, to develop potential U.S. EPRs
in Pennsylvania, Missouri, Idaho and Texas.
UniStar Nuclear Energy is powering the nuclear renaissance in North
America through industry leadership, disciplined business practices and
effective risk management. Based in Baltimore, UniStar Nuclear Energy
provides the licensing, construction and operating services needed to
support the expansion of clean, safe and sustainable nuclear energy in the
United States.
Constellation Energy (http://www.constellation.com), a FORTUNE 125
company with 2007 revenues of $21 billion, is the nation's largest
competitive supplier of electricity to large commercial and industrial
customers and the nation's largest wholesale power seller. Constellation
Energy also manages fuels and energy services on behalf of energy intensive
industries and utilities. It owns a diversified fleet of 78 generating
units located throughout the United States, totaling approximately 8,700
megawatts of generating capacity. The company delivers electricity and
natural gas through the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE), its
regulated utility in Central Maryland.
An energy market leader in Europe, the EDF Group is an integrated
energy company operating in all branches of the industry: generation,
transmission, distribution, and the trading and sale of energy. The top
electricity producer in Europe, the Group has predominantly nuclear and
hydroelectric power plants in France, supplying electricity that is 95
percent CO2-free. Its transmission and distribution subsidiaries operate
1,246,000 km of medium and low voltage overhead and underground electricity
lines and around 100,000 km of high and very high voltage networks. The
Group is involved in the supply of energy and services to more than 38
million customers worldwide with more than 28 million of them in France.
The Group's consolidated sales stood at euro 58.9 Billion in 2006 of which
42 percent was in Europe excluding France. EDF, which is listed on the
Paris Bourse, is a member of the CAC 40 index.
SOURCE Constellation Energy; UniStar Nuclear Energy
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CONTACT:
Media: Maureen Brown or Lori A. Vidil,
+1-410-470-7433, or Investors: Kevin Hadlock, +1-410-470-3647, or
Janet Mosher, +1-410-470-1884, all of Constellation Energy
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