[en] In a bid to reposition the nuclear industry as a contender in the electric generation construction market, the Dept. of Energy (DOE) has selected General Electric Co. and Westinghouse Electric Corp. to develop standardized designs for a new generation of nuclear reactors. DOE and a consortium of 16 utilities selected General Electric's advanced boiling water reactor design (1,300-MW capacity) and Westinghouse's 600 MW pressurized water reactor to receive $150 million for completion of design development over the next five years. The two companies will contribute $50 million in cash and services toward design development. Standardization is intended to allow utilities to project firm construction costs and schedules before ordering a nuclear plant. The first-of-a-kind-engineering program also is designed to reduce construction time from 10 to 15 years to around 5 years. By creating a standardized design, licensable in advance by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the industry also hopes to cut the lengthy approval process required of custombuilt plants. Both companies already have submitted their designs to the NRC, with final design approval not expected before 1994. Nuclear energy officials, buoyed by the Energy Policy Act's reform of the plant licensing process, have expressed optimism about the industry's ability to compete in the domestic generation market. Nevertheless, the last domestic order for a nuclear plant completed and put into operation was in 1973. Since that time over 100 orders have been canceled