Entergy Nuclear announced a deal Tuesday with a company known as ENERCON, a consulting group, to provide an array of services including engineering, environmental, technical services and management.

“Working with ENERCON in this new business line is a natural fit for Entergy Nuclear,”  said Kenneth Hughey, Entergy Nuclear’s vice president of nuclear business development in a prepared statement. “Coupled with Entergy’s leadership in operations and new plant deployment, this team has the potential to benefit the industry in many ways.”

Entergy officials said the venture will benefit Enexus, the newly created entity set up to own the six wholesale reactors that are part of Entergy’s 11-reactor inventory. EquaGen LLC will be the operating entity once fully established.

“This joint effort with ENERCON complements the abilities of both our teams, positioning us to extend ourselves even further with the pending creation of EquaGen and allowing us to provide these services, and others, on a broader scale to the nuclear industry,” said Donna Jacobs, senior vice president of planning, development and oversight for Entergy Nuclear.

ENERCON has 850 employees who provide services in support of new nuclear power plants. Included are strategic planning to evaluate the nuclear option as part of the power-generating mix for utility companies, evaluations of reactor technology, site selection studies and development of license applications. ENERCON clients include the Department of Energy, Fortune 500 companies and more than 20 companies evaluating potential deployment of new nuclear power plants.

Entergy, owned by stockholders and based in New Orleans, focuses primarily on electric power production and retail sales operations through generating and distributing companies in Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas. Entergy owns and operates plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of generating capacity, and it is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States.

The company, which has annual revenues of more than $11 billion, has won early site approval for new nuclear plants at Grand Gulf in Claiborne County and in St. Francisville, La. About seven years into a three-phased, 15-year process, applications for construction and operating licenses have been suspended due to a delay Entergy says has been caused by GE Hitachi, the company expected to provide reactor components. Entergy has said a decision on whether to start a five-year construction process at either or both sites will be based on market conditions and demand.

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com