NuStart Consortium Completes Nuclear License and AP1000 Design Engineering and Disbands

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--At the end of this month, a special-purpose entity, NuStart Energy Development, will be disbanded after achieving the two objectives for which it was established. When NuStart Energy Development was formed in 2004, the 10 utility company members outlined these goals: to obtain a combined construction and operating license (COL) from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) using an untested licensing process developed in 1992, and to complete the design engineering for the Westinghouse AP1000 technology.

The AP1000 reactor was approved in December 2011, and the NRC issued the COL to Southern Company (NYSE:SO) subsidiary Georgia Power's Plant Vogtle in February this year.

NuStart was the leader and motivator for the licensing efforts of four new nuclear reactors in the U.S. In addition to the approval of the AP1000 reactor and Plant Vogtle, South Carolina Electric & Gas received approval for its expansion of V.C. Summer weeks after Plant Vogtle, using the economies of scale NuStart created.

As a development company, NuStart was not authorized by its legal charter to build a nuclear power plant. Its primary purpose was to demonstrate the NRC's application and approval process for a COL.

The consortium members helped reduce risk and uncertainty, manage costs and ensure the best engineering minds in the business were used in the process. These accomplishments will allow nuclear energy to remain a safe, clean and reliable source of energy for generations to come, said Marilyn Kray, the president of NuStart Energy.

Since the endeavor started, the consortium has created more than 15,000 new manufacturing and technical service jobs; spurred more than $2 billion in nuclear services and supplies; supported 18 COL applications, and has served as a model for similar groups; particularly for small modular reactor development.

According to NuStart, The U.S. Department of Energy's funding for nuclear energy through the 50:50 cost shared program amounted to about $355 million, while NuStart and Westinghouse together contributed $975 million.

The members of NuStart Energy Development together provide about 60% of nuclear power generated in the U.S.

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