RALEIGH, N.C., June 1 (UPI) -- Progress Energy will put on hold for at least two years its plans to build nuclear and coal plants in the United States as it focuses on energy conservation.
Progress put a two-year moratorium on building new coal plants, the global energy information firm Platts reports. And it notified federal regulators that it will at least delay construction of new reactors at the Harris-1 site in North Carolina.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission expected Progress to apply for licenses for two more reactors at Harris this year, part of a probable boom of new building in the U.S. nuclear industry. Those reactors -- Westinghouse AP1000 models -- will not be online by the 2015 timeline Progress originally said it was trying to meet. Now the plants will come online by 2018 at the earliest.
While the industry is talking of meeting the increasing U.S. demand for energy by adding new nuclear generation, there has not been a new license issued by the NRC since 1978. A unit costs between $3 billion and $5 billion to license and construct, and the economics have not been solidified.
Platts reports Progress will spend the next two years promoting energy consumption and efficiency projects and programs before evaluating its effectiveness and then deciding whether it needs to build more plants.
