Washington, DC – UniStar Nuclear Energy, the entity developing a third reactor at Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant (CCNPP) in Lusby, has submitted a request to delay its submission of an updated Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR) to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The proposed third reactor would generate approximately 1,600 megawatts of electricity for the Mid-Atlantic Region.

According to documents filed Dec. 31 with the NRC, UniStar “requests an exemption from the requirement to submit the scheduled 2014 update to the CCNPP Unit 3 FSAR, and commits to a new schedule for submission of the next updated CCNPP Unit 3 FSAR in calendar year 2015.”

UniStar stated the delay would allow them to submit the update “in an orderly and efficient manner without undue expenditure of resources after the combined license application has been updated to reflect the most current revision to the U.S. EPR [European Pressurized Reactor] FSAR.”

In order to obtain a deferral of the safety update, UniStar must obtain an exemption from the NRC. The request affirms that the exemptions are “authorized by law, will not present any undue risk to public health or safety, and are consistent with the common defense and security.”

The third reactor at Calvert Cliffs was proposed last decade and UniStar was a subsidiary which became a joint venture of Constellation Energy Group and Electricte de France (EDF).

The Calvert Cliffs 3 project application was docketed by the NRC in June 2008.
In 2010 EDF acquired 100 percent of UniStar. Constellation has since merged with Exelon Generation, which now owns and operates the Calvert Cliffs plant.

In March 2013 the NRC upheld a decision to deny a combined construction permit and operating license for the third reactor at Calvert Cliffs. The commission’s decision was based on the 1954 Atomic Energy Act, which prohibits foreign companies from obtaining operating licenses for nuclear power plants in the United States.

Last year, EDF moved its North America headquarters from Baltimore to Chevy Chase.

Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com