United States: AREVA, Duke Energy and UniStar Nuclear Energy start negotiations to develop an EPR™ reactor in Ohio

6/18/2009
Press release

AREVA, Duke Energy, UniStar Nuclear Energy announced the start of negotiations to develop an EPR™ reactor for America's first Clean Energy Park.

AREVA will be coordinating the technical analyses needed to prepare the plant construction permit and licensing application which will be examined by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Duke will manage the project, provide project oversight and serve as the applicant for any NRC licensing applications.

Unistar will provide its services and expertise for the pre-certification process of the EPR™. It has also expressed interest in having a stake in the future nuclear power plant.

The 3700-acre Clean Energy Park in which the plant could be built is located on a Department of Energy site in Piketon, Ohio. Duke Energy, AREVA, UniStar Nuclear Energy, USEC Inc. and the Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative today announced that they have formed an alliance to pursue its development.

"We are delighted to be holding these exclusive discussions on the construction of an EPR™ with Duke Energy, one of the largest electric power companies in the United States. AREVA will be doing its utmost to meet its partner’s expectations. Thanks to its advanced technology, the EPR™ reactor can provide enough electricity for more than one million households, without producing greenhouse gases. It is one of the answers to America’s growing electricity needs and its desire to curb its carbon emissions," said AREVA CEO Anne Lauvergeon.

Certification of the U.S. EPR™ is currently underway in the U.S. and five power companies (Constellation, PPL, Ameren, Amarillo Power and AEHI) have already chosen the EPR™ for their potential reactor construction plans.

AREVA and Duke Energy have been working together since September 2008 under the ADAGE joint venture to develop a standardized fleet of biomass plants in the U.S.; the units will be designed and built by AREVA and operated by Duke.