NRC Approves New Nuclear Reactors Near Houston, Texas

Uranium (Nuclear Minerals) / Nuclear Power - Economics, Design, & Industry

Date posted: 02/10/16

Jordan Blum reports that The federal government on Tuesday approved the construction of two new nuclear reactors at the South Texas Project nuclear plant southwest of Houston. But the massive cost of the project coupled with cheap Texas power prices mean that NRG Energy and its partners have no plans to build the new nuclear reactors anytime soon, if at all. The partnership is continuing to look for new U.S. investors to eventually move the stalled project forward, said NRG spokesman David Knox. NRG said five years ago it was not investing any more money in the expansion. Near that time, NRG estimated the project would cost about $14 billion with financing. Market conditions, currently dominated by low natural gas prices, make the economics of new merchant nuclear challenging, Knox said. However, they continue to believe that new nuclear power is important for Texas and a carbon constrained world and having this license will enable (the partners) to move quickly when market conditions support a construction decision. The existing South Texas Project is owned jointly by NRG, Austin Energy, and San Antonio’s CPS Energy. The potential expansion project is through the Nuclear Innovation North America, or NINA, which is 90% owned by NRG and 10% by Toshiba. NINA owns 92.4% of the expansion. NRG has sought additional partners in the expansion since CPS Energy, once a 50% partner, reduced its stake to 7.6%. After several years of review, the NRC said Tuesday it approved the issuance of the licenses to build two new nuclear reactors. The plant in Matagorda County already has two reactors. The South Texas Project, one of two nuclear power plants in Texas, opened in 1988, but is still one of the U.S. newer nuclear plants. The project previously faced delays in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear incident in Japan. The NRC said Tuesday the new licenses would include the NRC new upgraded post-Fukushima safety requirements.