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Progress to ask for nuclear licenses

Citing rapid demand growth, the company says it will apply to build reactors at sites in Florida and the Carolinas.

By LOUIS HAU
Published November 2, 2005

An emboldened Progress Energy Inc. said Tuesday it expects to apply for licenses to build up to four nuclear reactors at two sites in Florida and the Carolinas.

The Raleigh, N.C., parent of Progress Energy Florida of St. Petersburg said it informed the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday that it is preparing an application for a second license to build a nuclear plant.

The company had indicated it was considering the possibility of building a nuclear plant in Central Florida or at its existing Crystal River nuclear power facility in Citrus County or in the Carolinas.

But given the projected need to meet rising electricity demand in the service areas the company serves in Florida and the Carolinas, Progress Energy intends to apply for one license in each region, said spokesman Keith Poston. Each license would cover the construction and operation of a nuclear plant that would include up to two reactors.

"We're seeing heavy growth in both the Carolinas and Florida," Poston said. "And we don't see any letup in that growth."

Progress expects to choose sites in Florida and the Carolinas by the end of the year. It expects to submit applications to the NRC by 2008, with construction beginning as early as 2010 and the plants going online around 2015.

Progress' revised plans come amid a flurry of renewed national and industry interest in building nuclear plants, encouraged by financial incentives backed by the Bush administration and surging fossil-fuel prices.

But even in this new nuclear-friendly landscape, Progress' plans stand out. It is the only U.S. utility, excluding multicompany consortia, that is seeking permission to build nuclear plants at two locations, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry trade group in Washington, D.C.

Progress operates five nuclear reactors at four plants in the Carolinas and Florida, including a 838-megawatt reactor at its Crystal River power station.

Poston stressed that Progress hasn't decided whether it will build nuclear plants, nor whether it would build four reactors if it succeeds in getting licenses from the NRC.

Poston said the company projects it will require about 2,000 more megawatts of baseload generating capacity by about 2015 in Florida and the Carolinas. Baseload plants are those that run virtually around-the-clock to handle a utility's basic power generating needs. In contrast, peaking plants are fired up during periods of heavy electricity demand.

Utilities typically use coal or nuclear plants for baseload capacity because they cost less to operate as baseload plants than those fueled by natural gas.

Although Progress expects to build 2,000 more megawatts of capacity in Florida and the Carolinas, the nuclear reactor designs it is reviewing generate 1,100, 1,500 and 1,600 megawatts, respectively.

That suggests the company is likely to build two reactors at each site if it chooses nuclear power over coal. Poston said the company might opt for a mixture of nuclear and coal.

Because of the high cost of building and licensing a nuclear reactor, building four reactors based on the same design at two different sites would appear to make the most economic sense if Progress decides to include nuclear power in any of its new baseload capacity, said Nuclear Energy Institute spokesman Mitchell Singer.

Louis Hau can be reached at 813 226-3404 or hau@sptimes.com

[Last modified November 2, 2005, 00:46:18]