Plans for new Texas nuclear power plants advance
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a so-called standard design certification for its US-APWR nuclear plant. That's the type of plant that Energy Future, formerly TXU Corp., is considering using to expand it Comanche Peak facility in Glen Rose.
Mitsubishi said in a news release that it will also help Energy Future prepare its application for the new plant. Last year, TXU told the NRC it would file the application in mid-2008. Since then, the power company has been purchased by private equity companies and changed its name.
Energy Future spokesman Tom Kleckner said the company isn't ready to give a more exact date for submitting the application.
He added that Energy Future hopes to have two new 1,700-megawatt reactors online around 2020. The NRC has encouraged manufacturers to apply for standard design certification to speed the process of building reactors.
That way, when a power company chooses a standard design, the NRC can skip reviewing the design itself and concentrate on the location of the plant and the operations.
In the past, the U.S. nuclear industry had no standard designs, and the NRC's process of certifying a plant took years.
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Enel kicks off 90MW Spanish wind build
MADRID - Enel Green Power Espana has started constructing three wind farms in Aragon, north-east Spain, which are due online by the end of the year.
The projects, all situated in the Teruel province, are worth a total investment of €88 million.
The biggest of the facilities, Sierra Costera I, will have a 50MW and will feature 14 turbines.
The wind farm is spread across the municipalities of Mezquita de Jarque, Fuentes Calientes, Canada Vellida and Rillo.
The Allueva wind facility will feature seven turbines and will exceed 25MW.
Sierra Pelarda, in Fonfria, will have four turbines and a capacity of 15MW.
The projects bring the…
