Following are the texts of the press releases:

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

March 4, 2002

President's Clean Coal Initiative Underway Energy Department's Solicitation Calls on Industry to Match $330 Million in Federal Funding

Washington, DC - The initial competitive stage of President Bush's $2 billion, 10-year clean coal technology initiative officially begins today with the Department of Energy's release of a solicitation offering $330 million in federal matching funds for industry-proposed projects.

Earlier this year, President Bush traveled to West Virginia to talk about the importance of clean coal. "In order to become less dependent on foreign sources of energy, we've got to find and produce more energy at home, including coal," said President Bush. "I believe that we can have coal production and enhanced technologies in order to make sure the coal burns cleaner. I believe we can have both."

"This solicitation signals our willingness to begin a new partnership with the private sector to enhance our energy supply," Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham said. "Technologies like this will help us preserve our environment while we strengthen America's energy security."

Clean coal technologies represent a new class of pollution control and power generating processes that reduce air emissions and, in many cases, lower greenhouse gases to a fraction of the levels of older, conventional coal-burning plants.

Some clean coal technologies offer the potential for giving even high-sulfur "dirty" coals many of the same environmental qualities of natural gas. Others also greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions by boosting power plant efficiencies and releasing carbon gases in a form that can be more easily captured and prevented from entering the atmosphere.

"America cannot afford to turn its back on the 250-year supply of secure, low-cost energy represented by the massive coal reserves that lie within our national borders," said Abraham. "Yet, it has been nearly a decade since the federal government joined with the private sector to move promising new concepts to the point where industry can decide if they merit commercial deployment. Today's solicitation tells industry we are ready to help share the costs and risks of new technologies that have emerged in the last 10 years but without our support, would likely remain in the laboratory."

Industry has until August 1, 2002, to submit proposals, and winning projects will be selected by late December.

The Energy Department is asking for projects that demonstrate or accelerate the commercial deployment of any technology advancement that "results in efficiency, environmental and economic improvement compared to currently available state-of-the-art alternatives."

Among the technologies expected to be proposed are innovative concepts for reducing mercury, smog-causing nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, and small particulate matter from existing and future power plants. New technologies that improve power plant control systems and permit plants to run more efficiently and reliably could also be proposed.

Technologies that permit better management and control of carbon emissions are being strongly encouraged. Roughly one third of the United States' carbon emissions come from power plants, and recently, as part of his National Climate Change Policy, President Bush placed a high priority on encouraging new technologies that can reduce these emissions while, at the same time, keeping energy costs affordable.

The competition is also open to new combustion or other technologies that produce combinations of heat, fuels, chemicals or other useful byproducts in conjunction with power generation. The Department will also accept projects that mix coal with other fuels, with only the provision that coal must represent at least 75 percent of the fuel energy input. The Department is also looking for advanced concepts for converting coal into a combustible gas that can be cleaned to extreme levels of purity.

Prospective projects must also show the potential to move rapidly into the market following the successful demonstration.

For each project selected by the Energy Department, industrial sponsors must be willing to at least match the federal funding share. There will also be a requirement that royalties from commercially successful technologies be used to underwrite future clean coal research.

More information on the clean coal initiative is available at http://www.fossil.energy.gov

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

March 4, 2002

DOE Announces Public-Private Partnership to Demonstrate Streamlined Licensing Process for New Nuclear Power Plants

DOE Issues $3 Million Solicitation for Early Site Permit License Project

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham announced today that the department is proceeding with the next phase of the Nuclear Power 2010 initiative, moving forward to establish public-private partnerships to share in the cost of selecting U.S. sites for new nuclear plants and for submitting formal applications to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for early site approval. Successful demonstration of NRC's licensing and evaluation process is a major milestone for developing new nuclear power plants in the United States by the end of the decade.

"This is a critical step in paving the way for deploying more nuclear power in the United States," Secretary Abraham said. "Identifying and obtaining NRC permits for acceptable sites will answer the question of where we will build new plants and thereby remove a major hurdle to building a new U.S. nuclear plant by 2010."

Expansion of nuclear power in the United States is a key recommendation of the President's National Energy Policy in order to meet growing demand while protecting the environment.

Under the Nuclear Power 2010 initiative, the Department of Energy (DOE) proposes to match industry investments of as much as $48.5 million over the next two years to explore sites that can host new nuclear plants; demonstrate key NRC processes designed to make licensing of new plants more efficient, effective, and predictable; and conduct research needed to make the safest and most advanced nuclear plant technologies available in the United States.

For this latest phase of the initiative, the Energy Department is seeking proposals by April 15, 2002, from U.S. nuclear utilities and generating companies to conduct a 30-month demonstration project for an Early Site Permit (ESP) application, anticipated to result in NRC approval of applications for specific sites in the U.S.

Copies of the solicitation, number DE-PS07-021D14305, can be obtained from the department's Interactive Procurement web site, http://e-center.doe.gov.

DOE will award up to $3 million in fiscal year 2002 to nuclear generating companies or utilities to initiate demonstration of the Early Site Permit process for U.S. sites. DOE anticipates that cost-shared cooperative agreements will be signed later this spring. The demonstrations may include the participation of architect engineers, engineering consulting firms, technology vendors, national laboratories, and not-for-profit organizations as members of partnerships or consortiums.

As part of the demonstration project, industry will prepare, submit and obtain NRC approval of the ESP application and will provide a report to the department summarizing the lessons learned from the demonstration to improve industry ESP guidelines.

The ESP demonstration is the second phase of a two-step project aimed at demonstrating the ESP licensing process for selected sites. Earlier this month, Secretary Abraham announced awards for the first phase of the ESP demonstration project, a cost shared private-public partnership to explore the cost, schedule and specific activities required to prepare and submit an ESP application to the NRC. Both privately owned and the Energy Department's Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, Savannah River Site and Portsmouth Site are presently under consideration by two major nuclear utilities as possible sites for new nuclear plants. Results will be provided to the department over the coming weeks.

The ESP process was established by NRC in 1989 for utilities to complete the site evaluation component of nuclear power plant licensing before a decision is made to build a plant. Once issued, the ESP permit is valid for 10 to 20 years and can be used in conjunction with a subsequent Combined Operating License (COL) application to enable the efficient licensing of a nuclear power plant.

More information on the Nuclear Power 2010 initiative and related activities, can be found on the department's nuclear energy web site http://www.nuclear.gov.

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