Wisconsin nuclear plant for sale

03 May 2011

Dominion Resources is to sell the Kewaunee nuclear power plant in Wisconsin. Dominion bought the single 574 MWe pressurised water reactor in 2005, in anticipation of establishing a portfolio of nuclear units in the Midwest region. However, Dominion's failure to successfully bid for other suitable plants when they became available has diminished the strategic rationale for retaining Kewaunee. "We believe that it is time to pursue a sale of the plant," company chairman, president and CEO Thomas Farrell told investors in a conference call of Dominion's first-quarter results. He went on to say that the company was confident it would find a buyer for the plant, which was granted a 20-year licence extension by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission in January. No timescale for the sale was given. Farrell also announced during the presentation that unit 1 at the Surry nuclear power plant in Virginia has returned to service following an automatic shutdown caused by a tornado strike in April. Surry 2 is now in a scheduled refuelling outage. Dominion paid $220 million in cash for Kewaunee, including $36.5 million for fuel. Some $392 million in decommissioning funds were transferred at the time of purchase.