Exelon reevaluating its choice of ESBWR

ByRod Adams

Exelon announced last year that it was basing its future project in Texas on GE’s ESBWR design. That choice, however, may be reevaluated as Exelon’s internal reviewers obtain more information about the technical readiness of the design. Here is a quote from a November 25 article in the Chicago Tribune titled Exelon rethinks design for proposed reactor.

“Exelon said it is currently “considering reactor technologies that have more mature designs, more certain cost structures and better availability of information that the ESBWR.”

While the technological advancements that the ESBWR promises “show great promise,” said Thomas O’Neill, Exelon’s vice president for new plant development, the new reactor design’s development schedule “doesn’t meet the needs of our Texas initiative.”

If I was a betting man, I would put money on being able to find some smiling salesmen in Pittsburgh who are pleased to hear that kind of talk.

Rod Adams
Rod Adams

Rod Adams is Managing Partner of Nucleation Capital, a venture fund that invests in advanced nuclear, which provides affordable access to this clean energy sector to pronuclear and impact investors. Rod, a former submarine Engineer Officer and founder of Adams Atomic Engines, Inc., which was one of the earliest advanced nuclear ventures, is an atomic energy expert with small nuclear plant operating and design experience. He has engaged in technical, strategic, political, historic and financial analysis of the nuclear industry, its technology, regulation, and policies for several decades through Atomic Insights, both as its primary blogger and as host of The Atomic Show Podcast. Please click here to subscribe to the Atomic Show RSS feed. To join Rod's pronuclear network and receive his occasional newsletter, click here.

Similar Posts

  • BBC Report on American Nuclear Renaissance

    ByRod Adams

    The below audio is the result of an investigation about the prospects for an American Nuclear Renaissance produced by BBC reporter Julian O’Halloran. Mr. O’Halloran’s report contains a few misconceptions – like the idea that it is only concern about climate change that is encouraging a new look at nuclear power and the idea that…

  • Vermont enjoys lower electricity prices than the rest of New England

    ByRod Adams

    David Gram, a writer for the Associated Press, recently wrote an article describing how Vermont has managed to achieve a situation with lower electricity prices than those of her neighbors. You can find the article under the headline Big switch: Vt. now has some of region’s lowest power costs on the Boston.com web site. Vermont…

  • Coal Train Passing

    ByRod Adams

    One of the banes of my current existence is a long commute from Annapolis to Washington. There are some advantages of a daily opportunity to see a lot of people and pass by a lot of examples of how people live and work. I also am blessed by being able to pass by some inspirational…

  • Even California's Pete Wilson has positive comments about nuclear power

    ByRod Adams

    Okay, I admit that the headline is a bit misleading, but I could not resist. I came across an article titled Nuclear Power To Heat Your Home? on the ABC-7 (San Francisco, CA) web site. The author listed for the article is Pete Wilson, a news anchorman who bears the burden of sharing the same…

  • Cold, expensive winter

    ByRod Adams

    Natural gas and oil prices began rising again this week as parts of the eastern United States received their first significant snowfall of the 2005-2006 winter season. As of yesterday’s market close, Bloomberg.com is reporting that heating oil is trading at $1.87 per gallon (compared to a gasoline price of $1.59) on the New York…