US utility company Progress Energy has announced that the Harris Nuclear Plant site near New Hill, about 30 km south west of Raleigh in North Carolina, is to be its potential first new nuclear build site and that Westinghouse is to supply its AP1000 reactors for the future expansion.

The company informed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in August 2005 of its plans to submit a combined operating license (COL) application for a nuclear power plant and updated those plans in November to include a second COL, one for Florida and one for the Carolinas. Each COL covers up to two reactors at each site.

The application for the COL could be filed in late 2007 or early 2008. If approved by the NRC construction could begin as early as 2010, and a new plant could be online around 2016.

“Selecting a site for possible nuclear generation expansion, first in North Carolina and later in Florida, is part of our planning process to ensure we have the energy our customers need in the future,” said Bob McGehee, chairman and chief executive at Progress. The company estimates it will take approximately two years to complete the COL application.

Meanwhile, Tulsa-based Enercon Services, a diversified energy consulting company, has been awarded a contract by Duke Power to prepare a Combined Construction and Operation License Application (COL) for a Westinghouse AP 1000 nuclear plant design at a site to be determined later. Duke Power announced in October that it would pursue a COL for two AP1000s.


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