Exelon Nuclear Update March 24, 2011 Exhibit 99.1 |
2 Forward-Looking Statements This presentation includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, that are subject to risks and uncertainties. The factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements include those discussed herein as well as those discussed in (1) Exelon’s 2010 Annual Report on Form 10-K in (a) ITEM 1A. Risk Factors, (b) ITEM 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and (c) ITEM 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data: Note 18; and (2) other factors discussed in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by Exelon Corporation and Exelon Generation Company, LLC (Companies). Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this presentation. None of the Companies undertakes any obligation to publicly release any revision to its forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this presentation. |
3 Administration and regulators remain supportive of US nuclear plants “Our nuclear plants have undergone exhaustive study and have been declared safe for any number of contingencies.” – President Obama, March 17, 2011 “The NRC remains attentive to any information that can be applied to U.S. reactors. Our focus is always on keeping plants in this country safe and secure. As this immediate crisis in Japan comes to an end, we will look at whatever information we can gain from the event and see if there are changes we need to make to our own system.” – Chairman Greg Jaczko, March 16, 2011 “Operating nuclear plants in the United States remain safe, with no need for immediate action.” – NRC, March 17, 2011 “The American people should have full confidence that the United States has rigorous safety regulations in place to ensure that our nuclear power is generated safely and responsibly…safety remains at the forefront of our effort to responsibly develop America’s energy resources, and we will continue to incorporate best practices and lessons learned into that process.” – Secretary Steven Chu, March 17, 2011 Nuclear plant operations and safety will be evaluated to incorporate lessons learned, but there has not been a rush to judgment DOE NRC White House |
4 Japan’s Nuclear Power Plants Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station began operations at Unit 1 in March 1971 4,696 MWe output across 6 BWR units All units responded as expected to the earthquake Tsunami caused loss of all back-up power, which is used to cool reactor core and spent fuel pools Units 4,5,6 were in cold shutdown for planned refueling at time of earthquake and tsunami Seawater/boron injection into reactor vessels at Units 1, 2 and 3 continues and those reactors are now stable Offsite power restored at all units, equipment being tested Source: NEI |
5 Exelon’s Plants are Designed to Withstand Extreme Environmental Hazards None of Exelon’s plants are in major earthquake zones Designed to withstand highest level of seismic activity for that location, with additional margin Regular seismic analyses performed by NRC Emergency core cooling systems are protected from water incursion, including water tight doors, elevation of equipment above potential flood levels and/or special engineered flood barriers (on a site-specific basis) Fuel tanks are buried underground or enclosed in buildings Switchgear for emergency operations are elevated above flood levels All but one of Exelon’s plants are in Illinois and Pennsylvania Oyster Creek (in NJ) is more than 5 miles inland, behind barrier islands • Tsunamis are extremely rare in the mid-Atlantic • Oyster Creek is 23 feet above sea level, while the maximum recorded high tide on the Barnegat Bay beachfront 5 miles away is 7 feet above sea level The NRC requires all nuclear plants in the US to be able to withstand the most severe natural phenomena historically reported for each plant’s surrounding area, with a significant margin of error Tsunami Flood Earthquake |
6 Exelon’s Nuclear Plants Are Not In Major Earthquake Zones Exelon Plant G Rating 1 Braidwood 0.20g 2 Byron 0.20g 3 Clinton 0.25g 4 Dresden 0.20g 5 LaSalle 0.20g 6 Zion 0.17g 7 Limerick 0.15g 8 Oyster Creek 0.184g 9 Peach Bottom 0.12g 10 Quad Cities 0.24g 11 Salem 0.20g 12 Three Mile Island 0.12g |
7 7 “Defense In Depth” Design Ensures Safe Operations Even in Station Blackout Water: Exelon’s BWRs have at least six independent ways to put water into the core in an emergency AC Power: Exelon’s plants get electricity from at least two independent power lines feeding two independent transformers Diesel Backup: Redundant systems maintain electric power when electricity is lost from the grid off site - multiple backup diesels at every site Exelon’s nuclear plants are able to safely shut down and keep the fuel cooled - even without electricity from the grid Diesel Backup AC Power |
8 Emergency Operating Procedures Emergency Operating Procedures (EOPs) direct operator response to restore or maintain the water level in the reactor vessel and control containment temperature and pressure for any emergency condition. Additional modifications and procedure changes have been implemented in response to a postulated loss of all offsite and onsite AC power under 10 CFR 50.63, the Station Blackout Rule Severe Accident Management Guidelines (SAMGs) have been implemented to use auxiliary equipment and alternate system alignments to provide makeup water to the reactor vessel or containment. Independent of the EOPs and SAMGs, additional procedures and alternate equipment is available onsite to provide water makeup to the reactor vessel and the spent fuel pools should damage occur to the reactor building. This equipment consists of pre-staged pumps, piping, and procedures that can be used independent of onsite AC power sources. Designated onsite and offsite emergency facilities are manned during an emergency to provide additional input to the control room operators. Both facilities are in direct contact with the control room and track use of the EOPs and SAMGs. Beyond the design, equipment and geography of a nuclear plant, other emergency response protocols ensure safety is maintained in the event of one or more unexpected severe events |
9 9 Spent Fuel Pools and Dry Cask Storage Main pool cooling system has redundant backup Additional backup systems can replace water from other plant water inventories Multiple onsite water storage tanks with 80,000 to 500,000 gallon capacity and portable, high capacity pumps available onsite, along with other sources, ensure spent fuel pools remain filled in an extreme emergency – even with significant water loss Elevated pools at 6 plants, at or below grade at 5 others Pool walls are 3-6 feet of concrete with a sealed stainless steel liner Fuel remains in pool for a minimum of 5 years Exelon generally waits 7-15 years before moving to dry cask storage Dry cask storage at Exelon plants: 7 in operation (Dresden, Quad, LaSalle, Byron, Peach, Oyster, Limerick) 3 more on-line before end of 2013 (Braidwood, Clinton, Zion) TMI not until next decade In An Emergency Steady State Spent Fuel Pool Dry Cask Storage |
10 Nuclear Industry Is Responding Proactively The World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) and INPO have developed this list of actions to evaluate the readiness and capability of emergency mitigation systems beyond normal plant design basis 1. Verify capability to mitigate conditions resulting from beyond design basis events March 23, 2011 2. Verify capability to mitigate station blackout conditions required by station design are functional and valid March 30, 2011 3. Verify capability to mitigate internal and external flooding events April 6, 2011 4. Perform walk-downs and inspections of important equipment needed to mitigate fire and flood events and develop strategies to mitigate any identified vulnerabilities April 13, 2011 Recommended Action Due Date Exelon is fully responding to each action item for every plant in the fleet |
11 Plant Location Type/ Containment Water Body License Extension Status / License Expiration (1) Ownership Spent Fuel Storage/ Date to lose full core discharge capacity (2) Braidwood, IL (Units 1 and 2) PWR Concrete/Steel Lined Kankakee River Expect to file application in 2013/ 2026, 2027 100% 2012 Byron, IL (Units 1 and 2) PWR Concrete/Steel Lined Rock River Expect to file application in 2013/ 2024, 2026 100% Dry Cask Clinton, IL (Unit 1) BWR Concrete/Steel Lined Clinton Lake 2026 100% 2018 Dresden, IL (Units 2 and 3) BWR Steel Vessel Kankakee River Renewed/2029, 2031 100% Dry cask LaSalle, IL (Units 1 and 2) BWR Concrete/Steel Lined Illinois River 2022, 2023 100% Dry Cask Quad Cities, IL (Units 1 and 2) BWR Steel Vessel Mississippi River Renewed/2032 75% Exelon, 25% Mid-American Holdings Dry cask (1) Operating license renewal process takes approximately 4-5 years from commencement until completion of NRC review. (2) The date for loss of full core reserve identifies when the on-site storage pool will no longer have sufficient space to receive a full complement of fuel from the reactor core. Dry cask storage will be in operation at those sites prior to the closing of their on-site storage pools. Exelon pursues license extensions well in advance of expiration to ensure adequate time for review by the NRC Exelon Nuclear Fleet Overview - IL |
12 Plant, Location Type, Containment Water Body License Extension Status / License Expiration (1) Ownership Spent Fuel Storage/ Date to lose full core discharge capacity (2) Limerick, PA (Units 1 and 2) BWR Concrete/Steel Lined Schuylkill River Expect to file application in 2011/2024, 2029 100% Dry cask Oyster Creek, NJ (Unit 1) BWR Steel Vessel Barnegat Bay Renewed/2029 100% Dry cask Peach Bottom, PA (Units 2 and 3) BWR Steel Vessel Susquehanna River Renewed/2033, 2034 50% Exelon, 50% PSEG Dry cask TMI, PA (Unit 1) PWR Concrete/Steel Lined Susquehanna River Renewed/2034 100% 2023 Salem, NJ (Units 1 and 2) PWR Concrete/Steel Lined Delaware River In process (decision in 2011- 2012)/ 2016, 2020 42.6% Exelon, 57.4% PSEG Dry Cask (1) Operating license renewal process takes approximately 4-5 years from commencement until completion of NRC review. (2) The date for loss of full core reserve identifies when the on-site storage pool will no longer have sufficient space to receive a full complement of fuel from the reactor core. Dry cask storage will be in operation at those sites prior to the closing of their on-site storage pools. Exelon pursues license extensions well in advance of expiration to ensure adequate time for review by the NRC Exelon Nuclear Fleet Overview – PA and NJ |
13 Nuclear uprates remain flexible to address changing circumstances in power markets or regulation Exelon's Uprate Plan Expenditures (1) $0 $100 $200 $300 $400 $500 $600 $700 2008A 2009A 2010A 2011E 2012E 2013E 2014E 2015E 2016E 2017E 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 Megawatt Recovery MUR EPU MW Online (Cumulative) $150 $250 $475 $550 $475 $600 $625 $425 $200 $ millions Uprates are unique in that they can be suspended or delayed if economics are no longer attractive 2011 spend is largely for turbine replacement, which we expect will continue as planned Future spend will continue to be evaluated to ensure the projects still meet economic return hurdles, but no uprate projects have been cancelled at this time $50 (1) Dollars shown are nominal, reflecting 6% escalation, in millions and exclude TMI and Clinton extended power uprates, which are currently under review. MW shown at ownership. Note: MUR = measurement uncertainty recapture; EPU = extended power uprate. Data contained in this slide is rounded. |