Westinghouse chief decries hurdles facing nuclear power plants

Oct 12 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Joe Napsha The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Power companies that need federal loan guarantees to build nuclear power plants are stymied by government regulations that are "too cumbersome and too time-consuming," with financing fees that are "too difficult to arrive at," the CEO of Westinghouse Electric Co. said yesterday.

Westinghouse's Aris Candris said problems with the federal loan guarantee process have not had an impact on Westinghouse's six projects to build nuclear power plants in the United States.

Attention focused on the Department of Energy loan guarantees and the Office of Management and Budget's computation of loan fees last week when Constellation Energy Corp. announced a decision to pull out of the loan program for a proposed nuclear power plant in Maryland.

The future of the multibillion-dollar Calvert Cliffs 3 plant project is unclear after Constellation Energy said it would drop out over risks linked to the high cost of a $7.5 billion loan guarantee.

Southern Co. received $8.2 billion in loan guarantees for two nuclear plants that will cost $14 billion to build near Waynesboro, Ga., using Westinghouse's AP1000 design.

Westinghouse has contracts for the construction of four other nuclear power plants in the United States -- including two by Scana Corp. near Columbia, S.C., and two by Georgia Power's project near Augusta, Ga. -- that remain in the loan guarantee pipeline, Candris said before a speech at Carnegie Mellon University.

Westinghouse has been selected for the designer of 14 of 22 U.S. nuclear power plant construction projects proposed.

Candris said he believes the nuclear power industry will grow and provide more than 20 percent of the nation's electricity needs, but that it has been hurt by the economics of power generation.

Power companies building generating plants are opting to use natural gas or other fuels for the power source, even though nuclear power is cheaper than natural gas in the long run, Candris contends. But the cost of building a nuclear plant, and the length of construction, are hurting the industry's growth potential, he said.

Candris, who became head of Westinghouse in July 2008, said the company is developing a process that shortens the time it takes to bring a nuclear power plant online to 36 months, or as quick as 27 months, rather than the current 50 months.

The price tag of $7 billion per plant includes the infrastructure necessary for power operations as well as the construction costs, Candris said.

The United States, which has 104 operating nuclear power plants, has not issued a full-power operating license for a new plant since two were issued in 1977, according to the Energy Information Administration.

While the nuclear power industry in the United States faces hurdles, countries such as China and India are forging ahead, Candris said. Westinghouse is in the process of building four nuclear power plants in China using its AP1000 design.

"The rest of the world is singing an entirely different song, Candris said.

China and India are going "full-blown" on a nuclear power program, he said. Within this decade, China will bring online a nuclear power plant every month.

That would likely mean more employment opportunities for Westinghouse, which has grown in Western Pennsylvania in the past few years to 5,000 employees, up from 3,500.