NEI Briefs Wall Street on Nuclear Energy's Increasing Value

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

NEI Briefs Wall Street on Nuclear Energy's Increasing Value in 
Today's Electricity Markets
  
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 2, 2001--Buoyed by their 
ability to reliably produce large amounts of low-cost, bulk 
electricity, nuclear power plants continue to increase in value, 
industry executives told Wall Street analysts here today. 

The energy woes gripping California and other parts of the United 
States reflect changes in the competitive electricity marketplace 
that are creating market opportunities for low-cost nuclear power, 
industry executives said. In addition, changing conditions are 
fostering "a high level of confidence" that construction of new 
nuclear power plants will begin later this decade. 

Christian Poindexter, chairman, president and chief executive 
officer, Constellation Energy Group, Inc. and chairman of the 
Nuclear Energy Institute's board of directors told the analysts that 
nuclear energy plants continue to perform at record levels of safety 
and reliability. As a result, he said, "The value of nuclear power 
plants in today's market has increased significantly in the last 
year, and we see that value continuing to increase." 

Nuclear power plants are this nation's largest source of emission-
free generation. NEI President and Chief Executive Officer Joe 
Colvin said this attribute will become more important - and more 
valuable - as Clean Air Act requirements limit companies' ability to 
find sites for new coal-fired and gas-fired power plants and increase 
the cost of coal- and gas-fired generation. 

Poindexter highlighted several key achievements from the past 
year: 

--  The average nuclear plant capacity factor industrywide is at 

an all-time high. The industry averaged over 86 percent in 

1999, and estimates 90 percent for 2000. NEI estimates that 

year 2000 production will top 1999's production record of 728 

billion kilowatt-hours by 5 percent. 

--  With nuclear production costs declining to 1.83 cents per 

kilowatt-hour, nuclear production costs are the lowest of all 

large, expandable fuel sources, and have dropped below average 

coal-fired production costs for the first time since 1987. 

--  Safety performance is at record levels. 

Marvin Fertel, senior vice president for business operations at NEI, 
said the industry started laying the foundation more than a decade 
ago for policy changes to set the stage for new nuclear plant 
construction. Three essential conditions have converged to 
establish a compelling business case for construction of the next 
nuclear power plants in the U.S.: 

--  Growing electricity demand and need for new generating 

capacity; 

--  Greater certainty in the NRC licensing process; and 

--  Programs to reduce capital costs for new nuclear power plants. 

The Nuclear Energy Institute is the nuclear energy industry's 
Washington-based policy organization. This news release and 
additional information about nuclear energy are available at 
http://www.nei.org 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc.			E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 				                           
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Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Personal Website: http://sandyfl.nukeworker.net
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com
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