[ RadSafe ] New U.S. reactor site announcement

[McMahan, Kimberly L.]

>From the news wire...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)--Duke Power Co. and Southern Co. (SO) have selected
a site in South Carolina for a potential new nuclear power plant in one
of the first orders for a new nuclear plant in the U.S. in more than 30
years, the companies said Thursday.

Duke Power, the electric utility subsidiary of Charlotte-based Duke
Energy Corp. (DUK), will be the developer and licensed operator of a
potential plant co-owned by Atlanta-based Southern Company, the
companies said in statements.

The companies said they expect to submit an application to the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission in late 2007 or early 2008. The companies
will decide later whether to proceed with plant construction.

"We identified multiple sites in our service territory as good locations
for a possible new station," Duke Power Chief Nuclear Officer Brew
Barron said. "After months of review, the Cherokee County site was
selected."

The site is in the Cherokee Falls community near Gaffney, S.C.

Cherokee County last year approved an incentive package that offered a
50% break on property taxes if the nuclear plant were based there.

In January, Progress Energy said it would consider building a nuclear
reactor at the Shearon Harris plant about 25 miles southwest of Raleigh,
N.C. Progress Energy operates four nuclear reactors in the Carolinas and
Duke has three.

Kim McMAHAN    ORNL External Dosimetry    865.576.1566