Duke Energy cancels nuclear power projects, agreement includes payout to customers

Under the settlement agreement, Duke Energy will address cost recovery issues for the retired Crystal River 3 plant and accept the Nuclear Electric Insurance Limited (NEIL) mediator’s proposals. 

Duke will also terminate the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) agreement for the cancelled Levy nuclear project. And it will write off $295 million associated with Crystal River 3 and $65 million related to the wholesale allocation of investments in the Levy nuclear plant.

Following its merger with Progress Energy in February 2013, Duke Energy opted to scrap the Crystal River 3 plant rather than “attempt a complex and costly first-of-a-kind repair.” The plant had been offline since late 2009 due to damage to its containment building caused while workers were creating an opening in the structure to facilitate replacement of the steam generators inside. Repair of the damaged containment structure hovered between $1.5 billion and $3.5 billion.

Under terms of the mediator’s proposal, customers and the Crystal River 3 joint owners will receive $835 million in insurance proceeds—the largest claim payout in the history of NEIL.

Duke Energy also definitively cancelled a 2008-proposed plan to built two 1,100-MW reactors in Levy County, Fla…….http://www.powermag.com/POWERnews/Duke-Energy-Settlement-with-Consumer-Advocates-Affects-Nuclear-Coal-Plants_5829.html