ENERCON to act as the primary for the preparation, completion and submission of Utah ESP
– By Abby Gessner –
Transition Power Development has entered into a contract agreement with ENERCON to act as the primary contractor for the preparation, completion and submission of an Early Site Permit (ESP) application for the proposed Blue Castle nuclear plant site near the city of Green River, Utah.
After site characterization studies are completed, an ESP application will be submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for staff review and Commission approval. The review and approval process, including a mandatory hearing, is projected to take three years after submittal. The issuance of an ESP would demonstrate that a proposed site has the environmental, safety and security characteristics that meet the stringent requirements of the NRC for a new nuclear plant.
Tom Retson, President of Transition Power Development, who leads all nuclear vendor interactions for the company, explained: “This will reduce the development risk for our utility partners. Executing this contract provides confidence to our company, the participating utilities and the public that the licensing of the project will get done on schedule and will get done right.”
ENERCON was awarded and successfully completed a similar contract that resulted in the issuance by the NRC of an Early Site Permit for Entergy’s Grand Gulf site in 2007. They have provided a broad range of services to customers in supporting new nuclear power plant deployment over the past five years. ENERCON also was selected to prepare two COL applications for NuStart Energy Development LLC, a consortium of eight nuclear power plant operators in the United States. ENERCON prepared a COL application for a Westinghouse AP1000 reactor plant to be sited at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant Site in Northern Alabama and for a General Electric ESBWR reactor plant to be sited at Entergy's Grand Gulf Nuclear Station in central Mississippi.
“We are very excited to continue to strengthen our relationship with Transition Power Development. Our team was involved in supporting the Blue Castle site selection activities and is excited to have been selected to continue as the prime contractor for the ESP work. This application is potentially the first tangible step towards deployment of a new nuclear power plant in the western United States. In addition, the Transition Power Development business model could be a significant asset to help accelerate deployment of nuclear power plants in the United States by reducing regulatory risk.” Explained John Richardson, President of ENERCON.
Enercon Services Inc. is a diversified energy consulting company offering engineering, environmental and management services. ENERCON is an employee owned company of over 1000 people located in 16 offices nationwide. With clients including most of the country’s nuclear power plants, the Department of Energy and many Fortune 500 companies, ENERCON delivers innovative solutions to energy and process industries. More information about ENERCON can be found at: www.enercon.com
Transition Power Development (TPD) is a limited liability company reducing the risk of acquiring new power resources for the electric utilities. This is accomplished by identifying and developing new nuclear plant sites. The TPD business mission is to select, acquire, enhance, and license plant sites which are uniquely well suited for the deployment of new nuclear power generation. TPD controls or owns the principal assets of its projects. More information about Transition Power Development can be found at: www.transitionpowerdevelopment.com