The company has sent a letter to the US Nuclear RegulatoryCommission indicating its intent to submit an application for acombined construction and operating license for the facility. Ithas also filed a request with Valley Forge-based PJMInterconnection LLC for preliminary interconnection studies for thesite. PJM is the regional transmission organization thatcoordinates the movement of wholesale electricity across 13 statesand Washington, DC.

A PJM analysis is one of many studies PPL says it needs toevaluate the feasibility of the expansion. The NRC notice ensuresPPL of a place in the commission's licensing process. Pursuing thelicense now preserves PPL's potential for federal production taxcredits and federal loan guarantees, according to James Miller,PPL's chairman, president and CEO.

The PJM notice ensures that PPL will be included in the regionalpower pool's plans for the future. "Given the growing concernsregarding climate change around the world and the growing need forpower plants in the PJM, it absolutely makes sense to create thisvaluable option for the electricity users in the mid-Atlanticregion and for the shareholders of PPL," Miller says in astatement.