Chevy Chase, MD – The energy consortium hoping to build a third reactor at a Southern Maryland nuclear power plant is requesting the federal government suspend review activities for its license application.

In a letter dated Feb. 27, Mark T. Finley, president and CEO of UniStar Nuclear Energy, requested that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) “suspend review activities for the Calvert Cliffs Unit 3 combined license application [COLA].”
Finley cited the recent suspension of NRC review activities for the U.S. European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) Design Certification Application as the reason for the request.

“The Calvert Cliffs Unit 3 COLA cannot be approved and issued by NRC until after the EPR design certification is approved and issued,” Finley stated. “Therefore, we have decided to suspend activities supporting the Calvert Cliffs Unit 3 COLA until further notice.”

Finley added that UniStar and Electricite de France (EDF) “will continue to monitor the U.S. EPR Design Certification efforts, as well as other project conditions such as foreign ownership guidance, loan guarantee availability and the electricity market, among others.”

If a third reactor is built at Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Lusby, it is expected to generate 1,600 megawatts of electricity for the Mid-Atlantic Region.

The third reactor was proposed last decade. UniStar was originally a joint venture of EDF and Constellation Energy Group (CEG), the company that owned the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant at the time. The reactor project was docketed by the NRC in June 2008.

The project stalled when a guaranteed loan from the Department of Energy for the project could not be procured. Several public hearings on the project had been held in Calvert County. Project officials also completed and presented to the NRC and the public an environmental impact statement.

In 2010, EDF acquired 100 percent of UniStar while CEG merged with Exelon Generation, which now owns and operates the Calvert Cliffs facility. Exelon is not a participant in the Calvert Cliffs 3 project.

The 1954 Atomic Energy Act prohibits foreign companies from obtaining licenses for U.S. nuclear power plants.

Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com