NuStart Announces Top Sites Selected to Build New Nuclear Units

LCG, May 20, 2005-- NuStart Energy Development, LLC yesterday announced its six top sites for constructing new nuclear reactors. Following further review, including discussions with state and local agencies, NuStart will select two finalists in October of this year. NuStart will then prepare applications to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a combined construction and operating license (COL). One application will be for a General Electric (GE) Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor and one application will be for a Westinghouse Advanced Passive 1000 reactor.

The six finalists sites are: Bellefonte Nuclear Plant, Alabama, owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA); Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, Mississippi, owned by Entergy Nuclear; River Bend Nuclear Station, Louisiana, owned by Entergy Nuclear; Savannah River Site, South Carolina, a Department of Energy facility; Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Maryland, owned by Constellation Energy; and Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, New York, owned by Constellation Energy.

NuStart was founded in 2004 and includes Exelon, Entergy, Southern Company, Constellation, Duke Energy, the Tennessee Valley Authority, Florida Power & Light, Progress Energy, EDF International, and the two reactor vendors, GE and Westinghouse Electric.

Earlier this week, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman outlined plans designed to reduce nuclear project risks in order to alleviate investor concerns regarding project delays. The Energy Department plan would create a $3 billion insurance pool to protect investors with respect to interest, operating, maintenance and construction costs caused by regulatory delays. The insurance would apply to each of the first two plants built using the new Westinghouse design and the new General Electric design. Insurance premiums would be waived for orders placed before 2009.

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