– Edited By Tom Lamar –
EDF is seeking a U.S. partner to build a new nuclear reactor at Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant in Maryland, said Steve Wolfram, chairman of the Paris-based company’s UniStar Nuclear Energy LLC unit.
UniStar, based in Baltimore, “will be looking to bring in a U.S. partner” to add a third reactor at the Lusby, Maryland location, Wolfram said during a meeting of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He didn’t say when he expects a U.S. partner for the project will be found.
EDF jointly owns the two existing reactors at Calvert Cliffs with Baltimore-based Constellation Energy Group Inc. The two companies previously were partners in UniStar, which was set up to build nuclear reactors at Calvert Cliffs and other U.S. sites. EDF bought Constellation’s share of UniStar after the U.S. utility company backed out of the Calvert Cliffs expansion in October.
The NRC in November asked UniStar to explain how it can apply for a license to build and operate a nuclear unit in Maryland now that it is 100% owned by a non-US company. At last weeks NRC meeting, UniStar officials said the company should still be allowed to seek licenses to build and operate reactors in the U.S. while it seeks a domestic partner. Under U.S. law, the NRC can’t grant a license to a firm that’s “owned, controlled or dominated” by a foreign company.
UniStar has a robust plan to ensure “continuity and U.S. control,” said George Vanderheyden, the EDF subsidiary’s president and chief executive officer. The plan requires that the CEO and chairman of the company be U.S. citizens and establishes a security subcommittee of the Unistar board.