For Release:October 30, 2007
NEI Congratulates Tennessee Valley Authority and NuStart Energy for New-Plant License Application
WASHINGTON—The Tennessee Valley Authority and NuStart Energy consortium, comprising 12 other prominent U.S. utilities and reactor manufacturers, announced that a combined construction and operating license application was filed today with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for two reactors at the Bellefonte nuclear power plant in northern Alabama. Following is a statement from Frank L. (Skip) Bowman, the Nuclear Energy Institute’s president and chief executive officer.
“The Nuclear Energy Institute congratulates the Tennessee Valley Authority for its leadership in submitting the first full license application developed by NuStart, one of the consortia participating in the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Power 2010 program. This submittal demonstrates the far-reaching value of the public-private partnership to meet our future energy needs. This license application for two new reactors at the Bellefonte site is a milestone for the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Power 2010 program. It will serve as a template that can be duplicated in many respects in other license applications for the Westinghouse AP 1000 advanced-design reactor that is envisioned at Bellefonte.
“TVA’s license application offers additional evidence that a new era of nuclear power plant construction in the United States is moving closer to reality. All Americans will benefit from new emission-free nuclear plants. These plants will strengthen U.S. energy security and improve the nation’s ability to meet pressing environmental challenges.
“As the TVA application moves forward, and in tandem with other license applications that will demonstrate the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s new reactor licensing process, it is critical that Congress continue to support the Nuclear Power 2010 program at funding levels that will facilitate the construction of new nuclear power plants beginning in the middle of the next decade.”
