DOE to drop nuclear incentives, focus on operating delays

DOE to drop nuclear incentives, focus on operating delays

Washington (Platts)--17May2005


Instead of up-front cash incentives for new reactors, the Bush administration
now proposes that Congress focus on preventing and minimizing the impacts of
possible post-construction operating delays, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman
said today. Bodman told industry officials at the Nuclear Energy Institute's
(NEI) Nuclear Energy Assembly in Washington, D.C. that raising the evidentiary
bar for a potential post-construction hearing would introduce more certainty
into the licensing process. Federal risk insurance, he added, would cover half
of the interest, maintenance, and constructions costs arising during the
second through fourth years of a serious regulatory delay resulting from a
post-construction hearing. Utilities ordering new reactors before Dec. 31,
2008 would not have to pay an insurance premium, Bodman said. Those ordering
reactors after 2008 would be charged a premium of 10%. The nuclear industry
will continue to seek incentives, NEI President/CEO Frank "Skip" Bowman told
Platts after Bodman's speech.

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