NRC shoots down Texas nuclear plant expansion

[Rennhack]

Here's something you don't read every day:

Plans to build two new reactors at the South Texas Project nuclear facility outside Bay City hit a roadblock Tuesday.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ruled that a partnership between NRG Energy Inc. and Toshiba Corp. through the holding company Nuclear Innovation North America violated a U.S. law prohibiting foreign control of nuclear power plants.

“At this point, NINA from our perspective is foreign owned, controlled or dominated,” said NRC spokesman Scott Burnell. “Until such time as NINA can come up with a different corporate ownership structure we would not be able to approve their license.”

The holding company plans to appeal the ruling to the NRC’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, arguing that NRG controls 90 percent of the holding company, an NRG spokesman said. No date for a hearing has been set.

Regulators took issue with NRG’s decision two years ago to pull back its investment in expanding the existing two reactors at the South Texas Project facility. At the time electricity prices were falling rapidly with the tapping of vast domestic reserves of natural gas.

Since then, the licensing process, which takes years to complete, has been wholly funded by Toshiba, the Japanese electronics and engineering giant, an NRG spokesman said.

But Houston-based NRG has not completely dismissed the project, at least in concept.

“It is unknown where natural gas prices will be in the future,” said spokesman David Knox. “At some point, it’s very possible new nuclear will be economically viable.”

Energy companies continue to dance around expanding nuclear power because of its enormous construction costs. Duke Energy recently estimated the cost of a planned plant in Florida at $24 billion.

Energy Future Holdings, the owner of what used to be TXU Corp., continues to pursue a license with Japanese partner Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to add two reactors at its Comanche Peak plant 75 miles southwest of Dallas. But EFH spokesman Allan Koenig said the company had not yet committed to actual construction and continued to weigh economic factors.

NRG and Toshiba remain hopeful they can persuade the atomic safety board to overrule NRC staff. They will probably face an uphill climb.

“In this case, it would seem unlikely the board would come to any different conclusion than what the staff has stated,” Burnell said. “They would have to prove day-to-day control of the company lies within the United States.”

Link: http://www.dallasnews.com/business/energy/20130430-nrc-shoots-down-texas-nuclear-plant-expansion1.ece

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

The NRC: the leading example of government destroying private industry by making it too expensive with too many rules while likely making the industry less safe.

[Rennhack]

The NRC: the leading example of government destroying private industry by making it too expensive with too many rules while likely making the industry less safe.

I disagree.  I believe the non-foreign ownership of special nuclear material in the USA is a good rule.

[Ksheed]

I disagree.  I believe the non-foreign ownership of special nuclear material in the USA is a good rule.

I cast my vote with yours. However, I do believe the NRC's faults are many, this just isn't one of them.

[hamsamich]

I agree with these comments about the NRC, but private industry hasn't exactly had a perfect record when it comes to reactor safety.  Davis Besse Rx head is the obvious example.  If that was the only one then we could call it an outlier, but there have been other bad decisions that have somewhat made the bed we lie in today.  Overkill being the cost of yesterday's mistakes.

[GLW]

I disagree.  I believe the non-foreign ownership of special nuclear material in the USA is a good rule.

And then there is Urenco USA,....

tangled web there,...

goose and gander stuff,...