UniStar expertise tapped for Potential U.S. EPR site in Pennsylvania
BALTIMORE, Dec. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- UniStar Nuclear Energy
(UNE), a strategic joint venture between Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG)
and the EDF Group, today announced an agreement with an affiliate of PPL
Corporation to prepare and submit to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC) a Combined License Application (COLA) for a potential third reactor
near PPL's Susquehanna nuclear power plant near Berwick, Pa.
The agreement positions PPL to take advantage of the wide array of
licensing, construction and operating services UniStar offers to support
the expansion of nuclear energy. PPL joins a growing list of energy
companies, including Constellation Energy, EDF, AmerenUE, Alternate Energy
Holdings Inc. and Amarillo Power, that are pursuing advanced nuclear power
plants based on AREVA's U.S. Evolutionary Power Reactor (U.S. EPR)
technology.
"We are pleased that PPL has joined UniStar and recognizes the
tremendous value added and certainty we bring through our standardized
approach to building new nuclear reactors to meet the nation's growing
energy needs," said George Vanderheyden, president and chief executive
officer of UNE. "With increasing demands for energy and concerns about
climate change, America needs clean, emissions-free, base-load power to
help secure its energy future. UniStar offers its partners the most certain
path to achieve that goal."
The announcement adds momentum to UniStar's proposed fleet of at least
four U.S. EPRs in the United States. In November, UniStar announced that it
selected Alstom to provide turbine generator systems for the first four
proposed U.S. EPRs.
UniStar plans to submit the COLA for PPL's Berwick site in the fourth
quarter of 2008, in time for the potential plant to qualify for production
tax credits under the U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005. The Berwick site is
being developed by PPL Corp. subsidiary, PPL Nuclear Development LLC.
In July, UNE submitted a partial COLA to the NRC to construct and
operate a potential third reactor at Constellation Energy's Calvert Cliffs
Nuclear Power Plant in Lusby, Md. The full COLA, which UniStar plans to
submit in the first quarter of 2008, will serve as the reference document
for the PPL COLA and all future UniStar COLAs.
UniStar Nuclear Energy, a strategic joint venture between Constellation
Energy (NYSE: CEG) and EDF, 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 2006 revenues of $19.3 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.
The EDF Group, one of the leaders in the energy market in Europe, is an
energy specialist that is active in all the businesses of electricity:
production, transport, distribution, energy supply and trading. The Group
is the leading electricity producer in Europe. In France, it has mainly
nuclear and hydraulic production facilities where 95 percent of the
electricity output involves no CO2 emissions. EDF operates over 1,200,000
km of low and medium voltage overhead and underground electricity lines and
around 100,000 km of high and very high voltage networks. The Group is
involved in supplying energy and services to close to 40 million customers
around the world, including more than 28 million in France. The Group
generated consolidated sales of euro 58.9 billion in 2006, of which 42
percent was in Europe excluding France. Net income (Group share) stood at
euro 5.6 billion, with net income from ordinary operations at euro 4.2
billion. EDF is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange and is a member of the
CAC 40 index.
PPL Corporation, headquartered in Allentown, Pa., controls more than
11,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States, sells energy
in key U.S. markets and delivers electricity to about 4 million customers
in Pennsylvania and the United Kingdom. More information is available at
http://www.pplweb.com.
SOURCE Constellation Energy
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Related links:
http://www.constellation.com
http://www.pplweb.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/084087.html /
CONTACT:
Maureen Brown or Lori A. Vidil,
+1-410-470-7433, both for Constellation Energy
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