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Nine Mile Point 3 Nuclear Project, LLC and Unistar Nuclear Operating Services, LLC (Unistar); Notice of Receipt and Availability of Application for a Combined License On September 30, 2008, Nine Mile Point 3 Nuclear Project, LLC and UniStar Nuclear Operating Services, LLC (UniStar) filed with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) pursuant to Section 103 of the Atomic Energy Act and Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 52, ``Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants,'' an application for a combined license (COL) for an evolutionary power reactor (US EPR) nuclear power plant adjacent to the existing Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, Unit 1 and Unit 2, Oswego County, New York. The reactor is to be identified as Nine Mile Point 3 Nuclear Power Plant (NMP3NPP).

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has accepted for review the Combined License application for an Evolutionary Power Reactor (EPR) at the Nine Mile Point site near Oswego, N.Y. Unistar submitted the application and associated information Sept. 30. The application, minus proprietary or security-related details, is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/col/nine-mile-point.html. Unistar is seeking approval to build and operate an EPR at the site, approximately six miles northeast of Oswego. The EPR is an Areva-designed pressurized water reactor, with a nominal output of approximately 1,600 megawatts of electricity. Areva filed its application Dec. 11, 2007, to certify the design. A version of the EPR is currently under construction at the Olkiluoto site in Finland and at Flamanville, France. The EPR application, minus proprietary or security-related details, is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/design-cert/epr.html.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has made available to the public the combined license (COL) application for a new reactor at the Nine Mile Point site near Oswego, N.Y. The applicant, UniStar, submitted the application and associated information Sept. 30. The application, minus proprietary or security-related details, is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/col/nine-mile-point.html. The UniStar application seeks approval to build and operate an Evolutionary Power Reactor (EPR) at the site, approximately six miles northeast of Oswego. The EPR is an Areva-designed pressurized water reactor, with a nominal output of approximately 1,600 megawatts of electricity. Areva filed its application to certify the design on Dec. 11, 2007. A version of the EPR is currently under construction at the Olkiluoto site in Finland and at Flamanville, France. The EPR application, minus proprietary or security-related details, is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-licensing/design-cert/epr.html.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will delay license review for a new nuclear reactor at the existing Nine Mile Point nuclear power station in New York at the request of UniStar Nuclear Energy LLC, the NRC said on Friday. UniStar is a joint venture of Maryland-based Constellation Energy Group (CEG.N) and EDF Group (EDF.PA) of France formed to pursue building new U.S. reactors. UniStar said it wants the NRC to hold off on the Nine Mile license to focus attention on UniStar's planned reactor at the Calvert Cliffs plant in Maryland. Earlier, UniStar dropped Nine Mile out of the competition for federal loan guarantees for nuclear power, also to concentrate on the Calvert Cliffs proposal.

A youngster starting kindergarten next month most likely would be a high school senior by the time any new nuclear plant is switched on at Nine Mile Point. Building a new nuclear reactor is a lengthy, drawn-out process. On Thursday, federal nuclear regulators held their first meeting to talk about a proposal to build a fourth reactor at Nine Mile Point, about six miles northeast of the city of Oswego. So the process is in the very early stages.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has approved the transfer of the operating licenses for the Calvert Cliffs Units 1 and 2, Nine Mile Point Units 1 and 2, and Ginna nuclear reactors, as well as the license for the Calvert Cliffs Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI), to a new ownership structure created by the joint venture of Constellation Energy Nuclear Group (CENG) and EDF Development, a U.S. subsidiary of Électricité de France S.A., a French limited company. As provided by NRC regulations, the staff's approval of the transfer is effective October 9. CENG and EDF Development submitted an application Jan. 22 requesting approval of the license transfer, and the companies provided supplemental information Feb. 26, April 8, June 25 and July 27. Following EDF Development's proposed purchase of 49.99 percent of CENG, Constellation Energy Group (CEG) would hold the remaining 50.01 percent through two intermediate companies, Constellation Nuclear and CE Nuclear. The current Constellation Nuclear Power Plants corporation would become an LLC and exist between CENG and the individual power plants.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has approved the transfer of the operating licenses for the Calvert Cliffs Units 1 and 2, Nine Mile Point Units 1 and 2, and Ginna nuclear reactors, as well as the license for the Calvert Cliffs Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI), to a new ownership structure created by the joint venture of Constellation Energy Nuclear Group (CENG) and EDF Development, a U.S. subsidiary of Électricité de France S.A., a French limited company. As provided by NRC regulations, the staff's approval of the transfer is effective October 9. CENG and EDF Development submitted an application Jan. 22 requesting approval of the license transfer, and the companies provided supplemental information Feb. 26, April 8, June 25 and July 27. Following EDF Development's proposed purchase of 49.99 percent of CENG, Constellation Energy Group (CEG) would hold the remaining 50.01 percent through two intermediate companies, Constellation Nuclear and CE Nuclear. The current Constellation Nuclear Power Plants corporation would become an LLC and exist between CENG and the individual power plants.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has approved the transfer of the operating licenses for the Calvert Cliffs Units 1 and 2, Nine Mile Point Units 1 and 2, and Ginna nuclear reactors, as well as the license for the Calvert Cliffs Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI), to a new ownership structure created by the joint venture of Constellation Energy Nuclear Group (CENG) and EDF Development, a U.S. subsidiary of Électricité de France S.A., a French limited company. As provided by NRC regulations, the staff's approval of the transfer is effective October 9. CENG and EDF Development submitted an application Jan. 22 requesting approval of the license transfer, and the companies provided supplemental information Feb. 26, April 8, June 25 and July 27. Following EDF Development's proposed purchase of 49.99 percent of CENG, Constellation Energy Group (CEG) would hold the remaining 50.01 percent through two intermediate companies, Constellation Nuclear and CE Nuclear. The current Constellation Nuclear Power Plants corporation would become an LLC and exist between CENG and the individual power plants.

"The Oswego County Legislature has approved a one-year tax agreement with Constellation Energy Nuclear Group for the Nine Mile Point Unit I plant. The tax agreement nearly triples the amount of taxes the company would pay Oswego County, the town of Scriba and the Oswego school district. The company this year paid $4 million through its payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, and would pay $11 million in 2011 with the tax agreement. The county receives $1,489,000 this year and would receive $4,096,400 under the tax agreement."

It's been more than 20 years since a new nuclear reactor came online in New York. That could soon change. Unistar, a partnership between Constellation Energy and the French company AREVA, is proposing a new reactor at Nine Mile Point just outside of Oswego. The plant would produce 1,600 megawatts, reports the Syracuse Post-Standard - a single megawatt can power up to 1,000 homes. Unistar told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that it plans to apply for the expansion this year, says the Post-Standard. The licensing process is expected to take up to four years.

Nuclear regulators will talk today about the licensing of a fourth nuclear plant in Oswego County at a public meeting on the State University College at Oswego campus. The session begins at 7 p.m. in Sheldon Hall. Officials will be on hand at 6 p.m. to informally discuss the project with the public. UniStar, a partnership including Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station owner Constellation, has told the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission it intends to apply for a license later this year to build and operate a so-called evolutionary power reactor at the site.

New York regulators have approved a French company's acquisition of three nuclear power plants in upstate New York. In February, U.S. regulators approved a $4.5 billion offer by French power giant EdF to buy nearly half of Baltimore-based Constellation Energy Group Inc.'s nuclear operations. On Tuesday, the New York State Public Service Commission approved the acquisition, which includes two Nine Mile Point nuclear plants in Oswego near Syracuse and the Ginna (gih-NAY') station in Ontario near Rochester. Constellation Energy is the parent of Baltimore Gas & Electric, Maryland's largest utility.

Deal That Could Pave the Way for Four New Nuclear Reactors In the U.S. Is Taxpayer Boondoggle Coalition Statement on Reactors Planned for Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York and Missouri A transaction announced Wednesday through which Electricite de France (EDF) - the world's largest nuclear developer - will buy half of Baltimore-based Constellation Energy should not come to fruition. Not only does it increase the foothold of a French state-controlled utility in the largest energy market, but it makes it more likely that billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars will be sunk into an economically unviable industry. Baltimore-based Constellation Energy said that it would approve a deal with the world's largest nuclear developer, French-controlled EDF. Under the proposal, EDF would pay $4.5 billion to buy half of Constellation's aging nuclear assets, which consist of two reactors at Calvert Cliffs in Maryland, two reactors at Nine Mile Point in New York and the Ginna reactor, also in New York. In addition, EDF would buy up to $2 billion of non-nuclear Constellation power plants.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued annual assessment letters to the nation's 104 operating commercial nuclear power plants. All the plants continue to operate safely. "Our ongoing assessment of nuclear power plant performance is at the heart of the agency's mission of protecting people and the environment," said Eric Leeds, director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. "The 2008 year-end results show that about 83 percent of the plants are performing strongly enough that we're satisfied with our basic level of inspections at those sites." If a nuclear power plant's performance declines, the NRC increases the level of inspection to ensure the plant operator is taking the steps necessary to correct the situation. The additional amount of inspection is commensurate with the level of plant performance. At the close of last year, only one reactor, Unit 3 at Palo Verde (Ariz.), required the NRC's highest level of attention. Three reactor units, Cooper (Neb.) and Units 1 and 2 at Palo Verde (Ariz.), required significant NRC attention. And another 14 reactor units, Units 1 and 2 at Byron (Ill.), Unit 1 at Comanche Peak (Texas), Unit 1 at Farley (Ala.), Unit 1 at Grand Gulf ( Miss.), Unit 2 at Hatch (Ga.), Kewaunee (Wis.), Units 1 and 2 at McGuire (N.C.), Unit 2 at Nine Mile Point (N.Y.), Unit 1 at Oconee (S.C.), Palisades (Mich.), Unit 1 at Prairie Island (Minn.), and Unit 2 at San Onofre (Calif.), required additional attention beyond the basic level.

There are several misrepresentations contained in George Vanderheyden's letter about his company's plans to build a new reactor at Nine Mile Point in Scriba ("UniStar committed to building in Scriba," March 10). The first and most obvious is his, albeit self-interested, claim that nuclear energy is "clean," "safe" and "reliable" and even "carbon-free." Nuclear energy relies on uranium, which must be mined from the ground. This process is not only highly carbon-intensive, but also leaves behind radioactive contamination of the water, land and air and a legacy of disease and death among those who mine it -- in this country predominantly Native Americans.

"On Nov. 4, 2008, two divers were cleaning sludge and silt from an entry bay for water pumps that serve Constellation Energy Nuclear Group's Nine Mile Point nuclear power plant near Oswego, N.Y. In the midst of the operation, the diver and the hose tender shifted their positions and the diver lost control of a plastic suction hose, leaving its trailing section in front of one of the water pipe entries. The force of the water flow, at 9,000 gallons a minute, severed a section of hose and sucked it into one of the system's pumps, fouling it. As the team tried to cope with that problem, a smaller piece of the unattended free end of the hose was pulled into a second water pump, according to an inspection report by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission."