1 Aug (NucNet): Three US nuclear power plants co-owned by EDF and the Constellation Energy Nuclear Group (CENG) are to be integrated into the nuclear operating fleet of US utility Exelon Generation over the next nine months.
CENG said it will turn over operation of five reactor units at the R.E. Ginna, Nine Mile Point and Calvert Cliffs nuclear plants in the US to Exelon.
The plants had been licensed to CENG, in which EDF will still hold a 49.99 percent stake. Exelon merged with Constellation last year.
“This is a logical step forward in the overall integration of Exelon and Constellation following our 2012 merger,” said Michael Pacilio, president and chief nuclear officer of Exelon Nuclear, the division that operates the company’s commercial nuclear fleet.
According to an Exelon statement, terms of the transfer included a 400 million US dollars (301 million euros) loan from Exelon to fund a special dividend for EDF.
EDF will have the option to sell its stake in CENG to Exelon between 2016 and 2022.
EDF said prospects for the company’s investments in the US had shifted sharply with the recent abundance of shale gas in the power generation market. Among its earlier plans, EDF had proposed investment in a third reactor at Calvert Cliffs through a company called UniStar, although that effort was stalled by federal requirements on domestic ownership of nuclear plants.
While EDF indicated it would shift its generation focus in the US to renewables, the company remains involved in efforts to build new reactors at Hinkley Point in the UK, pending power price negotiations with the government.
Exelon Generation is the largest operator of commercial nuclear plants in the US, with 17 reactors in 10 locations. EDF is the world’s largest nuclear operator, with 58 reactors in operation and one under construction in France.
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To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Dalton at david.dalton@nucnet.org
