FPL Joins Nuclear Industry Consortium to Develop Engineering Designs and a Construction and Operating License Application for Advanced Nuclear Power Reactors.

Business Editors

JUNO BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 19, 2004

Florida Power & Light Company today announced it has joined a nuclear industry consortium to develop a construction and operating license (COL) for advanced nuclear power reactors. The consortium, NuStart Energy Development LLC, was announced March 31 and FPL joins nine energy companies in a proposal to share the cost of the development of a COL with the U.S. Department of Energy.

"We are delighted to join this group of industry leaders to develop a license for the next generation of nuclear power plants," said Art Stall, senior vice president, nuclear division, for Florida Power & Light Company. "Nuclear power is an important part of our business and an important part of the nation's energy mix."

NuStart Energy's proposal seeks federal government cost sharing under DOE's Nuclear Power 2010 initiative to demonstrate the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's licensing process for building and operating advanced nuclear power plant designs. Nuclear Power 2010 is designed to have a new nuclear power plant under construction by 2010. The program offers to share up to 50 percent of the cost of preparing an application for a construction and operating license (COL) to the NRC.

None of the consortium companies has committed to build a new nuclear plant. But NuStart Energy does plan to complete detailed engineering design work and to prepare COL applications for two advanced reactors, then commits to choose one of the applications and file it for NRC review and approval. After NRC approval, any individual company or group of companies could decide to use the license to build a new nuclear plant, based on its assessment of power demand, the price of competing electricity technologies, environmental requirements and other factors.

Of the ten companies participating in the consortium, seven have formed NuStart Energy Development LLC and each has pledged $1 million a year plus in-kind services for seven years, totaling about $49 million. A federal power agency, the Tennessee Valley Authority, will be providing in-kind services only, and two reactor vendors, GE Energy and Westinghouse, will be contractors to NuStart Energy. The consortium members selected the General Electric Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor and the Westinghouse Advanced Pressurized Water Reactor as the reactor designs for the project.

Since much of the work is detailed engineering design, the two reactor vendors would pay the largest share of industry costs, about $400 million. If approved, that amount would be matched by DOE research and development funds, averaging about $57 million a year for seven years.

FPL joins Constellation Generation Group, a subsidiary of Constellation Energy, Baltimore; EDF International North America, Washington, a subsidiary of the large French utility; Entergy Nuclear, Jackson, Miss.; Exelon Generation, Philadelphia; Southern Company, Atlanta; Duke Energy, Charlotte, N.C.; the Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville; and two nuclear reactor vendors, Westinghouse Electric Co., Pittsburgh, and GE Energy's nuclear operations, Wilmington, N.C.

Florida Power & Light Company is the principal subsidiary of FPL Group, Inc. (NYSE:FPL), nationally known as a high quality, efficient and customer-driven organization focused on energy-related products and services. With annual revenues of more than $9 billion and a growing presence in 26 states, FPL Group is widely recognized as one of the country's premier power companies. Florida Power & Light Company serves more than 4.2 million customer accounts in Florida. FPL Energy, Inc., FPL Group's energy-generating subsidiary, is a leader in producing electricity from clean and renewable fuels. Additional information is available on the Internet at www.FPL.com, www.FPLGroup.com and www.FPLEnergy.com.

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