Ameren, Westinghouse to try again for nuclear-reactor funding
Westinghouse Electric and Ameren Missouri plan to again team up to compete for a second round of federal funding for the development of small modular nuclear reactors.
Officials with Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse said Monday the company sent a letter of intent to the U.S. Department of Energy. The letter puts the Westinghouse SMR, a 225-megawatt integral pressurized water reactor based on the AP1000 design, in the running for the funding.
Ameren Missouri and Westinghouse, based in Cranberry Township, Pa., near Pittsburgh, lost out on an initial Department of Energy grant for the first round of funding.
In this second bid for the funding, the team again said Ameren Missouri would host the reactor at its Callaway Energy Center after Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval of the design.
“It is the company’s next product innovation utilizing passive safety systems and proven components, as well as modular construction techniques,” Westinghouse officials said today in a statement.
Ameren Missouri is part of St. Louis-based Ameren Corp., which reported a 2012 net loss of $974 million on total operating revenue of $6.83 billion. Ameren Corp. is led by President and CEO Thomas Voss.
-Greta Weiderman
