PPL Corp plans to set up Areva EPR reactor

PARIS, Dec 21 (Reuters) - U.S. power company PPL Corporation (PPL.N) has sought approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a combined licence to construct and operate a new Areva U.S. EPR reactor, Areva (CEPFi.PA) said on Friday.

PPL has contracted with UniStar Nuclear Energy, a joint venture of Constellation Energy (CEG.N) and France's main electricity provider EDF (EDF.PA), to prepare the application.

The EPR reactor being planned by PPL Corp will be situated at Susquehanna, near Berwick in Pennsylvania.

EPRs, which originally stood for European Pressurised Reactor, are aimed to be state-of-the-art nuclear reactors which are safer and more efficient than previous designs. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Quentin Bryar)