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Dominion to shut Kewaunee reactor in Wisconsin in second quarter

Dominion Resources Inc will retire the 565-megawatt Kewaunee nuclear plant in Wisconsin in the second quarter after the Midwest grid operator determined the plant is not needed to maintain electric reliability, the company said on Tuesday.

Dominion said last fall the plant was no longer economical in the face of growing competition from natural gas-fired plants.

"Kewaunee may retire immediately," the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator (MISO) said in a letter to Dominion after its review.

Earlier this month, Duke Energy, the largest U.S. power company, said it would retire the Crystal River reactor in Florida, which has been shut since 2009, due to rising repair costs.

Industry sources said these actions may signal the shutdown of other U.S. nuclear plants as weak natural gas prices make significant investment in older, single-unit reactors uneconomical.
[link to www.nucpros.com]
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