EDF Begins Withdrawal From U.S. Nuclear

[bananas]

Source: Wall Street Journal

French power group Electricité de France SA said Tuesday it has signed a deal with U.S. partner Exelon Corp., marking the start of the French firm's gradual withdrawal from its multibillion-dollar foray into U.S. nuclear power and illustrating the shale-gas boom's continued wide impact on energy companies' strategies.

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"We see no room for nuclear to expand in the U.S. at this time," EDF's Chairman and Chief Executive Henri Proglio said, citing the dramatic drop in U.S. gas prices compared with other types of energy. "So we are being realistic; U.S. nuclear is no longer a priority for us," he said.

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Tuesday, EDF's Chief Financial Officer Thomas Piquemal expressed relief. The deal with Exelon "is the epilogue to the Constellation story," he said, referring to former U.S. partner Constellation Energy, which merged in 2012 with Exelon.

EDF has booked around €2 billion ($2.65 billion) of write-downs over the past three years for its U.S. nuclear operations, he said.

Controlled by the French government, EDF owns 58 nuclear reactors in France and 15 in the United Kingdom. It initially paid $6.4 billion for a stake in U.S. energy group Constellation Energy back in the early 2000s, as part of a grand plan to become a major nuclear operator in the U.S., betting on a revival there of the energy source.

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Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324354704578637871199992276.html

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Another nail in the coffin of the "Nuclear Renaissance",
which was never more than PR, bad math, and ad hominem attacks.

[wordpix]

1. good, I see no reason for expansion of nukes, either