Earlier this year, a Constellation-EDF joint venture won permission from the Maryland Public Service Commission to build a third reactor at Calvert Cliffs, based on Areva’s EPR reactor design. (The fate of the Constellation-EDF financial merger should be resolved soon.)
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will decide on the proposed reactor in 2011 or even 2012. The NRC may want to check with their European colleagues:
In a rare joint statement, nuclear safety bodies in France, Britain and Finland on Monday ordered France’s Areva (CEPFi.PA) and EDF (EDF.PA) to modify the safety features on its European Pressurised Reactors (EPR) due to insufficient independence between the day-to-day systems and the emergency systems.
Changes to the EPR design mean further delays at construction sites in France and Finland. EDF officials have ordered a speed-up which will only drive costs higher:
The move threatens to boost the €4bn ($6bn) cost of the EPR project in Flamanville, France’s showcase for the new generation nuclear technology that it hopes to export around the world.
2 Comments
November 18, 2009 at 3:26 pm
[...] at a press conference on the steps of Constellation Energy Group who is planning to build a third nuclear reactor at Calvert Cliffs with a French [...]
July 29, 2010 at 8:08 pm
[...] Question Marks Over Calvert Cliffs III Jump to Comments Constellation Energy has entered into a partnership with state-owned EDF to construct a third reactor at Calvert Cliffs [...]