Quarterly Nuclear Deployment Summary, April 2012

Quarterly Nuclear Deployment Summary

• The U.S. NRC voted to approve the issuance of the COLs for Southern Nuclear’s Vogtle Units 3 and 4 on February 9, 2012. The issuance marks the first COL ever to be issued and the construction of a new nuclear power plant in more than 30 years.
• SCE&G’s V.C Summer Units 2 and 3 received approval for COLs on March 30, 2012, making them the second U.S. new-build in 30 years.
• The Tennessee Valley Authority has revised the cost and time estimates of Unit 2 at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant. The new schedule estimates the cost to be in the range of $4 billion with a completion date of late 2015.
• South Mississippi Electric Power Association (SMEPA) has signed a letter of intent with Santee Cooper for negotiations in a power purchase agreement, which would allow them to buy between 2-7% of the capacity and power output of the new VC Summer units. The agreement also allows for SMEPA to purchase a portion of Santee Cooper’s 45% ownership interest.

¹    Reference COL Application (R-COL)
⁴    Safety Review Phases:

⁵    Environmental Review Phases:

Reactor Design Certification (DC)

Summary: Two reactor designs that are being considered for future builds are certified and two renewal applications are under NRC review.

• AREVA US-EPR – Submitted December 12, 2007, and docketed February 25, 2008; rulemaking expected in December 2014.
• GE ESBWR – Final Design Approval in March 2011; rulemaking expected 2013.
• Mitsubishi Heavy Industries US-APWR – Submitted December 31, 2007, and docketed February 29, 2008; rulemaking expected in 2015.
• KEPCO APR-1400 – Pre-application interactions began in January 2012. Design certification application anticipated March 2013.
• GE ABWR – Certified in 1997. Toshiba and GEH have also separately submitted Design Certification renewal applications that are currently under review.
• Westinghouse AP1000 – Amended design certified on December 30, 2011.

Early Site Permits (ESP)

Summary: Four ESPs issued; two under review:

• On March 25, 2010, Exelon submitted an ESP application for its Victoria County site. The final SER and EIS are expected to be completed by mid-2014.
• PSEG submitted an ESP application for its nuclear plant site in Salem County, New Jersey, on May 26, 2010. The final SER and EIS are expected in mid- to late 2014.
• NRC anticipates two further ESP applications at Blue Castle and Callaway.
• The following ESPs have been issued: Exelon – Clinton (IL), 3/15/07; Entergy – Grand Gulf (MS), 4/5/07; Dominion – North Anna (VA), 11/ 27/07; Southern – Vogtle site (GA), 08/26/09.

New Plant Construction Progress

Summary: Full nuclear construction can now begin for V.C. Summer Units 2 and 3 and Vogtle Units 3 and 4. TVA is proceeding with the completion of the Watts Bar 2 and Bellefonte 1 reactors.

New Nuclear Plants under Construction: COLs for Vogtle Units 3 and 4 and V.C. Summer Units 2 and 3 have been issued.

Vogtle

• At the Vogtle site, work on the containment vessel bottom head for Units 3 and 4 vessel continues. The CR10 module, which will hold the Unit 3 containment vessel bottom head, is being assembled.
• For pictures of Votgle Units 3 and 4, please visit the South Nuclear website.

VC Summer

• Testing for the heavy-lift derrick crane at the V.C. Summer site was recently finished. Work is continuing on both bottom containment vessel heads and work is beginning on the cooling towers.
• For pictures of VC Summer Units 2 and 3, please visit the SCE&G website.

Watts Bar 2

• Watts Bar 2, near Spring City, Tennessee, is now expected to come online late 2015 at a revised cost of $4 billion.

Globally

• Construction of some reactor designs to be built in the U.S. is underway in other countries: four AP1000s in China, two APWRs in Japan, one EPR in Finland and France and another two in China; four ABWRs have been operated in Japan and four are nearing completion in Japan and Taiwan.

Expected Operation Date

• TVA expects Watts Bar 2 to be completed by late 2015.
• Southern Nuclear's Vogtle Units 3 and 4 are expected to come online in 2016 and 2017, respectively.
• SCE&G's VC Summer Units 2 and 3 are expected to come online in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
• Florida Power and Light's Turkey Point expects Unit 6 to come online by 2022 and Unit 7 by 2023.
• Progress Energy's Levy site expects the first unit to come online in 2024 and the second unit to follow 18 months later.

Federal Financial Incentives

Summary: EPAct 2005 incentives are at various stages of development: two rules issued and one notice published.

Standby Support: Rule issued, no contract issued.

• Final Rulemaking Issued August 2006.

Production Tax Credits: Notice issued.

• Internal Revenue Bulletin 2006-18 published May 2006.
• Treasury / IRS may issue additional guidance on tax credits for new nuclear plants; however, a date has not been set.

Nuclear Energy Facility Loan Guarantees: Congress granted DOE authority to issue $20.5 billion in guaranteed loans.

• DOE issued solicitations for $18.5 billion in loan guarantees for new nuclear power facilities and $2 billion for the “front end” of the nuclear fuel cycle on June 30, 2008.
• DOE offered a conditional commitment agreement for $2 billion to AREVA for an enrichment plant.
• DOE has issued conditional commitment agreements to Georgia Power Corp., Oglethrope Power Corp. and the Municipal Authority of Georgia for the financing of Vogtle Units 3 and 4, totaling $8.33 billion.