UniStar Nuclear Energy, PPL Sign Agreement to Develop New Nuclear Plant License Application
UniStar expertise tapped for Potential U.S. EPR site in Pennsylvania
BALTIMORE, Dec. 19 - 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 (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 www.pplweb.com.
FCMN Contact: aaron.koos@constellation.com
Source: Constellation Energy
CONTACT: Maureen Brown or Lori A. Vidil, +1-410-470-7433, both for Constellation Energy
Web site: www.constellation.com/ www.pplweb.com/
