Next Step Application For Potential US-EPR Unit At Calvert Cliffs
Written by NucNet
Thursday, 15 November 2007
NucNet News No. 244
15 Nov (NucNet): Local authorities in the US state of Maryland have
been formally asked to support the potential construction of a third
reactor unit at the country's Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant.
UniStar Nuclear Energy (UNE), a joint venture between Constellation Energy and Electricite de France said today that it had submitted an application to the Maryland Public Service Commission for a certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) for the potential construction of a 1,600-megawatt unit at the plant in southern Maryland.
UNE, which is committed to the development of advanced European Pressurised Water Reactor (EPR)-type nuclear power plants in the US, said it had not made a final decision to build at Calvert Cliffs.
However Michael Wallace, Constellation Energy's executive vice-president and chairman of UNE said: "A third reactor at our high-performing Calvert Cliffs site offers the potential for an economic and environmentally sound means to provide additional base-load electricity to meet anticipated growth, both regionally and within the state of Maryland."
UNE is asking for a decision on the application by December 2008 to pave the way for preliminary, non-safety-related work that can be completed prior to required federal approvals. The company said its application "notes that a third reactor at Calvert Cliffs would use a hybrid cooling tower designed to eliminate any visible water plume from the tower itself".
The company submitted a partial combined licence application to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission in July 2007 and plans to submit the remainder of the application by March 2008.
In 2006, the Calvert County Board of County Commissioners authorised a package of financial incentives to encourage the possible construction of a third unit at Calvert Cliffs saying that if the unit is built, "the potential tax benefits to the county and state are staggering".
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