On Thursday, URS Corp. stated that it had been chosen by Hitachi for an engineering, procurement and construction contract for a new nuclear project in Victoria County, Texas.
– Edited By Stephen Heiser –
The project for Exelon Corp the largest U.S. nuclear plant operator, includes two 1,350-megawatt reactors based on the Advanced Boiling Water Reactor design from GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy.
Martin Koffel, URS Chief Executive, announced the deal on a conference call to discuss the company's quarterly results, and said he was not in a position to provide further details.
URS shares jumped 7 percent at $46.12 on Thursday, touching an eight-month high of $47.18 earlier, following the report of strong first-quarter results from the San Francisco-based company the previous day.
URS executives expect nuclear power to form a major part of U.S. power generation in the future, despite what one analyst said was a "nebulous" approach to it by the White House, because it offered a clear path to reducing carbon emissions.
Proponents note nuclear plants, which now generate about 20 percent of U.S. electricity, emit none of the heat-trapping carbon dioxide and other gases that come from coal and other fossil-fueled plants.
But the recession and tight credit markets have prompted downward revisions in early predictions for more than a dozen new reactors to be built by 2020. Cambridge Energy Research Associates has predicted four to eight new reactors by then.