NRG ends project to build new nuclear reactors (Texas)

[jpak]

http://www.dallasnews.com/business/energy/20110419-nrg-ends-project-to-build-new-nuclear-reactors.ece

NRG Energy Inc. officially ended plans to build more nuclear power reactors in Texas.

The second-largest power generator in the state said Tuesday it will stop spending money on plans to build two more reactors at the South Texas Project, outside of Houston. The project was doomed when a financial partner, Tokyo Electric Power Co., saw its reactors in Japan explode after the earthquake.

“We have concluded that, financially, this is the end of the line for us,” said NRG chief executive David Crane. And even if the project is resurrected, “it will have to be fueled by somebody else’s financial resources.”

The decision means the one Texas nuclear project close to getting a license and federal loan guarantees won’t get built anytime soon. And it is evidence that the Japanese disaster has the potential to derail the budding U.S. nuclear power renaissance.

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