John E. Matthews

Partner

John E. Matthews is a partner in Morgan Lewis's Energy Practice. Mr. Matthews has successfully assisted clients in obtaining NRC regulatory approvals for “first of its kind” commercial transactions involving the sale of nuclear power plants. He advises clients regarding commercial issues relating to nuclear power plants and other nuclear assets, certain government contracts matters, NRC’s review of license transfers, decommissioning funding issues, and the unique insurance and liability issues associated with the ownership and operation of nuclear assets. He also has directed litigation teams in contested licensing proceedings before the NRC and in complex commercial litigation involving nuclear assets.

Mr. Matthews is actively assisting a number of clients in commercial transactions involving the acquisition and/or financing of nuclear assets, issues relating to government contracts (including due diligence and security-related reviews) in connection with mergers and acquisitions or financings, and the development of new nuclear power plant projects. He advises clients regarding license transfer applications, vendor contracts, decommissioning funding issues, nuclear decommissioning trusts, nuclear insurance, and other unique liability issues associated with ownership and operation of nuclear assets. Recent engagements include NRG Energy’s acquisition of Texas Genco; private equity firm Lindsay Goldberg’s acquisition of Envirocare of Utah (now EnergySolutions); EnergySolutions’s acquisition of Duratek, Inc.; Dominion’s acquisition of Kewaunee; and AmerGen’s acquisition of Three Mile Island, Clinton Power Station, and Oyster Creek.

Mr. Matthews assists clients in administrative proceedings before the NRC, including contested licensing proceedings, and he advises individual utilities and industry groups regarding NRC rulemaking activities and other nuclear regulatory policy issues. Mr. Matthews has represented clients in NRC hearings regarding the licensing of DCS’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, contested license transfer proceedings for Constellation and AmerGen, license amendment proceedings, and contested enforcement proceedings for contractors and materials licensees such as the Sequoyah Fuels Corporation.

Mr. Matthews also routinely represents clients in large-scale commercial litigation in state and federal courts. He has assisted MidAmerican Energy Company and Lincoln Electric System in multijurisdictional complex litigation regarding the management of a nuclear power plant and power sales agreements.

Mr. Matthews periodically speaks at industry conferences regarding nuclear asset transfer issues and new nuclear plant issues, including conferences hosted by the American Nuclear Society, the Energy and Mineral Law Foundation, Infocast, Platts, and Morgan Lewis. He published articles on these topics in International Power & Utilities Finance Review in 2004 and 2005.

Mr. Matthews is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia.