France's EdF confirms nuclear deal with Exelon

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/frances-edf-confirms-nuclear-deal/story.aspx?guid=%7B21E8B692%2DB248%2D4D3D%2DB932%2DFC27E92FDD13%7D&siteid=moren

Last update: 6:55 a.m. EDT May 19, 2008
PARIS (Dow Jones)--French power giant Electricite de France (1024251.FR) Monday said it had signed a five-year memorandum of understanding with U.S. peer Exelon Corp. in April to exchange experience of nuclear maintenance, fuel use and plant shutdowns. The deal is "very technical" and is "in parallel" with EdF's cooperation with Constellation Energy, with which it plans to build nuclear reactors in the U.S., an EdF spokeswoman told Dow Jones Newswires. The confirmation follows a report in French newspaper Les Echos Monday, which said EdF appears to be "preparing a new breakthrough" in the U.S. As well as reporting the Exelon deal, Les Echos also cited matching reports from sources as saying that EdF's planned build-up of its stake in Constellation could happen faster than planned, possibly resulting in the company breaching the threshold of a 10% stake "in the next few months."
EdF declined to comment on that aspect of the Les Echos report but said its stake in Constellation, as of Dec. 31 2007, stood at 3.1%. A cooperation deal signed between EdF and Constellation in July 2007 foresees EdF raising its stake to up to 5% in the first year, then up to 9.9% between the first and the second year, the EdF spokeswoman said.
-By Adam Mitchell, Dow Jones Newswires, +33 1 40171740; adam.mitchell@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 19, 2008 06:19 ET (10:19 GMT)
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