Two more new licence applications bring tally to 11

摘要

Combined construction and operation licence (COL) applications for two more nuclear plants have been submitted to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). If accepted by the NRC, they will bring the total number of COL applications received to date to 11, representing 18 new reactors. The timing of Progress Energy Florida's application for two Westinghouse API000s at a new site in Levy County, Florida, was in line with earlier predictions, but AmerenUE's application for a USEPR at its existing Callaway site had not been anticipated until closer to the end of the year. Progress Energy's COL submission is the last in a series of three major filings necessary for the construction of the new plant. The first, a Determination of Need petition filed' with the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) in March 2008, received unanimous approval on 15 July, recognising the need to use nuclear to meet the state's future energy requirements. The second, a Site Certification Application (SCA) to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, was filed in early June with a decision expected in 2009.