Entergy asked NRC January 9 to suspend the review of the utility's two new plant license applications, citing difficulties in reaching an engineering, procurement and construction agreement with vendor GE Hitachi. Entergy had filed an application for a combined construction permit-operating license, or COL, in February for an additional unit at its Grand Gulf site in Mississippi and another COL application in September for a new unit at its River Bend station in Louisiana. An Entergy spokesman said the company has asked NRC to suspend the safety review for both applications and to temporarily defer the environmental portion of those reviews.