NRG stops further investment in project

PRINCETON, N.J., April 20 (UPI) -- NRG Energy, a U.S. partner of Toshiba Corp., says it will not invest more in a Texas nuclear power project, citing the crisis at a Japanese nuclear plant.

The announcement by the company in Princeton, N.J., relates to the building of two more reactors at the South Texas Project near Houston.

In a news release, company President David Crane said Japan's nuclear incident "has introduced multiple uncertainties around new nuclear development in the United States which have had the effect of dramatically reducing the probability" that the South Texas Project reactors can be successfully developed in a timely fashion.

The announcement said as a result of the near meltdown in Japan, NRG will "write down its investment" in the project and "will not invest additional capital in the STP development effort."

Kyodo News said the announcement indicates the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, set off by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, has directly affected the U.S. nuclear power industry.

NRG said it expects to record a first-quarter 2011 pretax charge of approximately $481 million for the impairment of all of the net assets of Nuclear Innovation North America (NINA), its nuclear development joint venture with Toshiba American Nuclear Energy Corp.

It was not immediately clear if Toshiba would seek to continue with the project along with other partners.