NRG Will Abandon Twin Texas Nuclear Stations, Take $481 Million Hit - Reuters

[hatrack]

NRG Energy Inc said on Tuesday that regulatory uncertainty in the United States in the wake of Japan's Fukushima nuclear accident would force the company to abandon a plan for two additional reactors in Texas and to write off its investment in the project. NRG will record a first-quarter 2011 pretax charge of about $481 million for the impairment of net assets of Nuclear Innovation North America (NINA), its nuclear development joint venture with partner Toshiba American Nuclear Energy Corp (TANE), an affiliate of Toshiba Corp.

Shortly after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami cut off power to the Fukushima station owned by Tokyo Electric Power Co, New Jersey-based NRG cut spending on the $10 billion Texas project and reduced its workforce, citing uncertainty related to a U.S. nuclear industry review and the already deteriorating economics for nuclear power in a low-priced natural gas environment.

"The extraordinary challenges facing U.S. nuclear development in the present circumstance and the very considerable financial resources expended by NRG on the project over the past five years make it impossible for us to justify to our shareholders any further financial participation in the development of the STP project," NRG Chief Executive Officer David Crane said in a statement.

NRG's decision indicates how difficult the Fukushima accident will make it for U.S. companies to participate in the global nuclear revival. The accident is expected to lead to regulatory changes that raise costs for existing reactors and for construction of new ones.

EDIT

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/19/us-nuclear-nrg-idUSTRE73I7E620110419

[bananas]

1. Yay - they stopped throwing good money after bad. nt

[madokie]

7. For a while anyway

Just think where we could be energy wise if we'd taken President Carters path he set out for us. Sometimes just thinking about it pisses me off

Whose going to pay to clean up these old nuke plants when they do finally quit using them? You can bet it will be ratepayers and taxpayers and not the owners of the nuke plants.

[wtmusic]

2. Yippee, more CO2/fracking

Wonder how many 9.0 earthquakes have hit Texas? :shrug:

[AlecBGreen]

4. How many hurricanes have hit Texas?

I share your frustration but lets be realistic. Each potential location for new nuclear power plants has its own unique challenges. Texas is not immune.

[leveymg]

3. One piece of good news. What the frackin' NRC won't do, the market and insurance costs will.

There will be no "global nuclear revival" in America, thank g-d.

[RC]

5. And when we get so desperate for energy we start trying to recover all that oil on the Gulf bottom,

So we can burn it? Then what?
Be careful what you wish for, you may get it.

[diane in sf]

6. They would take a worse hit if they didn't cancel them, lots of wind and nat gas in TX.

[Nihil]

8. Dupe (FWIW)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x289324#289362

Still ... I suppose they were "twin" nuclear stations ... :P