Bell Bend Nuclear Power Plant

The Bell Bend Nuclear Power Plant is a proposed nuclear power plant, which may be built on the Bell Bend of the Susquehanna River in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania near the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station.

On October 10, 2008, PPL Bell Bend, LLC, a subsidiary of PPL submitted a Combined Construction and Operating License application (COL) for the plant with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) — in time for the potential plant to qualify for production tax credits under the U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005.

NRC review of the 10,000-page COL is expected to follow this schedule:

The proposed nuclear power plant consists of one European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) steam electric system designed by the French company AREVA. The rated core thermal power will be 4,590 MWt. The rated and design net electrical output is approximately 1,600 MWe. Plants using this technology now are under construction in Finland, France, and China. The plant would be built by PPL and UniStar Nuclear Energy, a joint enterprise of Constellation Energy and French energy giant EDF.

PPL spokesman Dan McCarthy said in 2008 that the plant would cost about $10 billion to develop, and seven to eight years to construct — beginning operation in 2016 or 2017. A 2011 estimate gave costs as $13–15 billion and an operational starting date of 2018-20. PPL filed an initial application for federal loan guarantees by the September 29, 2008 deadline. PPL intends to submit the second part of the application by the December 19 deadline. PPL Chief Operating Officer William Spence said, "Without federal loan guarantees, companies like PPL will not be able to secure financing for the substantial cost of building new, advanced-design nuclear energy plants that will help this country achieve challenging limits on carbon dioxide emissions, as well as energy independence".

The license application was withdrawn on August 31, 2016.