Exelon Nuclear has selected primary and secondary sites in southeast Texas for a Combined Construction & Operating License (COL) application that would allow development of a new nuclear plant.
The company expects to submit the COL to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in November 2008.
The primary site is a 1,250-acre tract about 16 km south of Collegeport in Matagorda County across Tres Palacios Bay from the town of Palacios. If built, the facility at the site will use saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico for cooling purposes.
The secondary site encompasses 11,500 acres about 30 km south of Victoria in Victoria County. If built, the facility at the site will use a man-made freshwater lake for cooling.
Exelon expects the license application to cost about $23 million but stresses that no decision about when or if it will build on either of the sites has been made.
