Press Releases
News Release —July 29, 2008
UNISTAR NUCLEAR ENERGY LAUDS AMERENUE’S NRC COLA FILING AS MILESTONE ACHIEVEMENT FOR US EVOLUTIONARY POWER REACTOR
Submittal is second UniStar-Supported U.S. EPR COLA Filing
Two more UniStar-supported COLA filings expected by Year End
BALTIMORE, July 29, 2008 –UniStar Nuclear Energy, LLC (UniStar), a strategic joint venture between Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG) and EDF Group, said the Combined License Application (COLA) filing by AmerenUE to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is an important milestone, illustrating gathering momentum for U.S. Evolutionary Power Reactor (U.S. EPR) projects in the United States.
UniStar leveraged its prior license preparation experience to support the AmerenUE application, which seeks regulatory approval to build a 1,600 megawatt U.S. EPR adjacent to AmerenUE’s Callaway nuclear plant about 10 miles from Fulton, Mo.
AmerenUE’s application follows by about a year UniStar’s submittal of its first COLA for a potential new reactor adjacent to Constellation Energy’s existing Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in southern Maryland.
“We congratulate AmerenUE on this milestone achievement,” said George Vanderheyden, president and chief executive officer of UniStar Nuclear Energy. “It illustrates the strong relationship between our companies and the gathering momentum for U.S. EPR development in the United States. This license application is an important milestone for AmerenUE and for UniStar Nuclear Energy as we pursue our plans to develop a critical source of electricity that is clean, safe, reliable, and economic, and supports our nation’s energy independence goals.”
“Ideally, we would like to break ground for a new reactor in southern Maryland in late 2008 so this carbon-free, base-load source of electricity can be in operation by 2015,” Wallace said. “However, if we encounter delays in Maryland, we are prepared to proceed with the first EPR at our Nine Mile Point nuclear plant location in New York.”
Vanderheyden noted that UniStar expects to support two more license applications for AREVA’s U.S. EPR before the end of this year -- one in upstate New York and one in Pennsylvania.
UniStar’s first license application, known as the R-COLA (reference), was a partial application submitted in July 2007 for a potential third reactor at Calvert Cliffs. The remainder of the Calvert Cliffs COLA was submitted in January 2008. The 8,000-page COLA for AmerenUE, a Missouri-based subsidiary of Ameren Corp., is known as an “S-COLA” or subsequent COLA. A final decision has yet to be made to proceed with nuclear plant development at either the Maryland or Missouri location.
UniStar Nuclear Energy is powering the nuclear renaissance in North America through industry leadership, disciplined business practices and effective risk-management. Based in Baltimore, Md., 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.
About UNE
UniStar Nuclear Energy, a strategic joint venture between Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG) and EDF Group, is powering the nuclear renaissance in North America through industry leadership, disciplined business practices and effective risk-management. Based in Baltimore, Md., 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.
About Constellation Energy
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.
About EDF Group
The EDF Group, one of the leaders in the energy market in Europe, is an integrated energy company active in all businesses: production, transport, distribution, energy selling 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’s transport and distribution subsidiaries operate 1,246,000 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 more than 38 million customers around the world, including more than 28 million in France. The Group generated consolidated sales of € 59.6 billion in 2007, of which 44 percent in Europe excluding France. EDF is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange and is a member of the CAC 40 index.
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