Nuclear (ABWR)

NRG's South Texas Project (STP), a nuclear facility near Bay City, Texas, is considered one of the most exemplary nuclear power plants in the country. Nuclear energy, like no other carbon-free technology currently in operation, has the power to move the needle in the fight against global warming.

In November 2007, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission accepted NRG's application to add two new nuclear-powered units using Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) technology to the STP facility, signifying the strength of our nuclear development program.

The building of two new units will add approximately 2,700 megawatts (MW) of generating capacity — enough to power two million households in San Antonio, Austin, Houston, Corpus Christi and surrounding areas.

Nuclear power does not emit carbon dioxide, which means NRG's new units will prevent more than 18 million tons of greenhouse gas from being emitted into the atmosphere. The new units will also prevent almost 41,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and over 11,000 tons of nitrogen oxides from entering the atmosphere each year when compared with traditional fossil-fueled plants.

The STP expansion project represents the first nuclear facility commissioned in the U.S. in almost 30 years, marking a new day in commercial nuclear generation, a huge step toward a fundamental change in how our nation meets our energy requirements and an all-new approach to our stewardship of the global environment.