Reactor

State regulators will begin hearings today to determine whether an affiliate of Baltimore's Constellation Energy can build a third nuclear reactor at Calvert Cliffs in Lusby. The project, which could cost up to $9.6 billion, is among a handful of applications being considered as the nation's first new nuclear reactors in nearly 30 years. Government and energy company leaders are looking to the new plants to remedy energy shortage concerns across the country - beginning as early as 2011 in Maryland.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. intelligence officials showed satellite images, classified photos and other evidence to members of Congress yesterday in an unusual presentation intended to advance the American case that North Korea was helping Syria build a nuclear reactor before the facility was destroyed by Israeli warplanes last year. CIA Director Michael V. Hayden and senior spy officials spent hours briefing key committees on Capitol Hill, publicly releasing much of the evidence later in the afternoon.

WASHINGTON -- Forgotten but not gone, the waste from more than 100 nuclear reactors that the federal government was supposed to start accepting for burial 10 years ago is still at the reactor sites, at least 20 years behind schedule. But it is making itself felt in the federal budget. With court orders and settlements, the federal government has already paid the utilities $342 million. But it is virtually certain to pay a total of at least $7 billion in the next few years and probably more than $11 billion, government officials said.

Maryland : Nuclear power Constellation unit acts on reactor plan Constellation Energy Group's nuclear development arm has notified federal regulators of its plans to seek a license to build a nuclear reactor near Oswego, N.Y., the company said yesterday. UniStar Nuclear, a joint venture of Constellation and Paris-based EDF Group, said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission notification is another milestone in its plans to build up to four new plants in the United States based on a French reactor design.

Constellation Energy Group's nuclear development arm said yesterday that it might build its first new reactor in New York instead of Maryland if the state's political and regulatory climate proves too hostile. The company declined to elaborate on its statement. But it marked the latest sign that Constellation is ratcheting up its criticism of efforts by Maryland regulators and lawmakers to revisit the state's deregulation laws. Gov. Martin O'Malley and the state's top utility regulator said yesterday that they were committed to the nuclear project in Maryland and would work to make sure it gets a timely review.

A doughnut-shaped building that looks like a sports arena may soon rise beside the Chesapeake Bay - a cooling tower for a huge new nuclear reactor proposed at the Calvert Cliffs power plant in Southern Maryland. The state-of-the-art cooling system would enable the new reactor to recycle water, thus drawing 98 percent less from the bay than the two existing reactors, which opened in 1975 and 1977. The low and wide circular structure would look different from the tall, hourglass-shaped cooling towers that have become an iconic symbol of nuclear power - as featured, for example, in the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant where the cartoon character Homer Simpson works.

Sparrows Point for sale again A deal to sell the Sparrows Point steel mill to a group led by steelmaker Esmark Inc. collapsed, reopening a government-supervised search for a new owner. ArcelorMittal said it canceled the purchase agreement because the prospective buyer, E2 Acquisition Corp., was unable to secure the necessary financing. Port turns to investors Officials at Baltimore's port are sounding out investors to help pay for a $120 million project to deepen a berth at the Seagirt Marine Terminal to accommodate bigger ships.

UniStar Nuclear Energy, a joint venture led by Baltimore-based Constellation Energy Group, moved a step closer to building several new nuclear reactors yesterday with the signing of a deal with Pennsylvania's second-largest utility owner. PPL Corp. has asked UniStar to prepare a license application for a reactor to be built near Berwick, Pa. The application will be filed with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission by the end of next year. Though electricity from the project wouldn't come to Maryland, it would help bolster the regional power grid.

Baltimore-based Constellation Energy Group's nuclear development arm said yesterday that it has asked state regulators for a permit to build a third reactor at Calvert Cliffs in Lusby, though the company maintains it has not yet decided to go ahead with the project. UniStar Nuclear Energy, a joint venture between Constellation and Electricite de France SA, applied to the Maryland Public Service Commission for what's called a certificate of public convenience and necessity. The PSC will coordinate a multiagency review of the project's potential impact on the environment and state infrastructure, among other things.

On tree-lined bluffs overlooking the Chesapeake Bay, where anti-nuclear activists won a landmark environmental victory 36 years ago, Constellation Energy Group Inc. is engineering atomic power's comeback. This time, even if there are protests, bulldozers will roll. That's because the Baltimore company and its allies have found a way around a long-standing regulatory policy they say added a year or more to construction times for nuclear plants. In April, the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission agreed to industry demands that it reduce its oversight of initial work at reactor sites.