RALEIGH, N.C. (April 30, 2003) -- Progress Energy [NYSE: PGN] today announced it is exploring dry storage facilities for spent fuel at its Robinson Nuclear Plant in Hartsville, S.C. and Brunswick Nuclear Plant near Southport, N.C. The company has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) seeking solutions for on-site interim storage of spent nuclear fuel. Evaluating these facilities will allow the company to ensure that spent fuel storage needs are met until Yucca Mountain opens after 2010.

"We plan to operate our plants for many years and evaluating all options for interim spent fuel storage makes the most sense for our plants and our customers," said C.S. "Scotty" Hinnant, senior vice president and chief nuclear officer, Progress Energy. "License renewal is under review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for Robinson and plans are underway to file for a Brunswick license renewal in 2004. In addition, the rail containers currently used to ship spent fuel by the company will need to be relicensed or replaced after 2005. Given these factors, the decision has been made to evaluate all options."

The company would likely select one vendor to supply spent fuel storage containers for the facilities at Brunswick and Robinson. Both wet (pool) and dry (cask) storage are proven safe technologies to store fuel. There are currently about 15 utilities in the United States utilizing both wet and dry storage. For dry storage, the coolest fuel (fuel that has been in the pool for a minimum of five years) is transferred into a specially engineered container of concrete and steel. The typical dry storage container can weigh more than 50 tons empty.

The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 and its 1987 amendments require the U.S. Department of Energy to locate, build and operate a repository for high-level waste and to develop a transportation system that safely links U.S. nuclear power plants and the permanent repository. By law, the repository was to be in place by January 31, 1998.

Progress Energy (NYSE: PGN), headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., is a Fortune 250 diversified energy company with more than 21,900 megawatts of generation capacity and $8 billion in annual revenues. The company's holdings include two electric utilities serving more than 2.8 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida. Progress Energy also includes nonregulated operations covering generation, energy marketing, natural gas exploration, fuel extraction, rail services and broadband capacity. For more information about Progress Energy, visit the company's Web site at www.progress-energy.com.
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