A change in plans by one of GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy customers has resulted in a workforce reduction at GEH related to one project, the company confirmed Friday.

“In late January, Dominion Virginia Power informed GEH of its plans to slow down engineering work related to the North Anna 3 project,” GEH officials said in a statement. “As a result, in early March we shared with employees our workforce transition plan. Since that time some affected employees have been placed in other jobs at GEH or at other GE locations.

“For the remainder, we are providing a comprehensive benefits package, educational benefits and assistance with outplacement services.”

GEH spokesman Jonathan Allen said Friday he could not disclose the number of employees affected, but said all were specific to the Dominion North Anna 3 project.

GEH got the green light from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in September 2014 to develop its new Economic Simplified Boiling-Water Reactor (ESBWR) for use in the United States. At that time, GEH had two proposed partners waiting for a license from the NRC to build an ESBWR; one of those was Dominion Virginia Power, for a possible third nuclear power plant at Dominion’s North Anna Power Station northwest of Richmond.

The GEH statement said that there are several reasons for Dominion’s slowdown, “but the main driver is the uncertainty in the evolution of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan and what solutions will be necessary to meet the plan’s requirements in Virginia.”

Rather than focusing on both engineering for the site-specific design and licensing, GEH stated, “Dominion has asked us to continue work on licensing activities only at this time.”

“Moving forward, GEH remains committed to working with Dominion as they continue to pursue their license and to advancing the ESBWR domestically and internationally,” the statement concluded.

The U.S. nuclear industry in general has been doing some shrinking. In recent months, there have been media reports of a decline in nuclear energy production because of the rise of low-carbon power. In a story April 7, NPR pointed to Entergy Nuclear’s decision to take an unprofitable reactor offline in Vermont and close two more plants: Fitzpatrick in upstate New York and Pilgrim in Massachusetts.

“In all, 19 nuclear reactors are undergoing decommissioning, of which five have been shut down in the past decade, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,” the story stated.

Entergy Nuclear is a customer of Global Nuclear Fuel, a GE-led joint venture with Hitachi Ltd. and Toshiba Corporation. Last June the utility had announced a fuel reload contract with locally based GNF valued at more than $100 million, according to a GNF news release. The contract covered refueling at four Entergy power plants through 2021.

Two of those plants are FitzPatrick and Pilgrim. Allen said Friday that the Pilgrim plant will be refueled once more in 2017 before closing in 2019 or possibly earlier.