Platts - Tuesday, June 10, 2003 http://www.platts.com ------------ Washington (Nuclear News Flashes)--9Jun2003 RG&E exploring sale of Ginna Rochester Gas & Electric (RG&E) said it has "started the process of exploring the sale" of Ginna, but declined further comment. In a statement, RG&E said it is the only utility in New York state that has not implemented the state policy on utility-owned generation, which requires divestiture of generation and long-term rate stability under incentive rate-making plans. "It is our intention to adopt that policy which means selling generation, where viable in today's marketplace, and achieving long-term rate plans, which provide customer choice," the RG&E statement said. Ginna, a 517-MW PWR, has long been mentioned as a potential acquisition target. RG&E submitted a license renewal application to NRC in August 2002 for Ginna, whose current license expires in 2009. A final decision on the 20-year extension is expected in June 2004. ------------ Washington (Nuclear News Flashes)--9Jun2003 NRC ready to issue bulletin on PWR sump blockage An NRC bulletin on potential sump blockage in PWRs is expected to be issued June10, an agency source told Platts June 9. The bulletin deals with sump blockage from debris generated during a loss-of-coolant accident. It likely will ask licensees either to confirm that their recirculation systems comply with regulations or to describe interim compensatory measures that have been or will be implemented to reduce the risk of debris blockage until a compliance evaluation can be completed, the source said. The bulletin also is expected to include examples of compensatory measures that can be implemented. ------------ Washington (Nuclear News Flashes)--6Jun2003 NRC rejects request to revoke Davis-Besse license NRC preliminarily rejected Rep. Dennis Kucinich's petition to revoke the operating license for Davis- Besse. The Ohio Democrat requested that NRC revoke the license held by FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. (Fenoc) so that the company would have to reapply and thus subject its qualifications to rigorous NRC scrutiny. But in a "proposed director's decision" issued June 6, NRC Director of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Samuel Collins said that while the NRC staff "shares the Petitioner's concerns about verifying the adequacy of plant operator performance," Fenoc had established and was implementing a "comprehensive" return-to-service plan. Davis-Besse has been out of service since the discovery of severe reactor head degradation during an outage that began in February 2002. NRC is closely monitoring Fenoc's actions and will continue to do so after the planned restart, Collins said. Kucinich and Fenoc have a month to comment on the preliminary decision. The decision and related materials are on NRC's Web site (http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/ops- experience/vessel-head-degradation/controlled- correspondence.html). ------------ Washington (Nuclear News Flashes)--6Jun2003 IAEA inspectors visit nuclear site in Iraq Seven International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards inspectors arrived in Iraq Friday to being taking an inventory and securing nuclear material at the Tuwaitha nuclear complex, the IAEA said in a statement. The nuclear material--1.8 metric tons (MT) of low-enriched uranium and 500 MT of natural uranium--had been under IAEA seal since 1991. IAEA inspectors last visited the complex in February 2003, the IAEA said. The inspections are in accordance with Iraq's safeguards agreement with the IAEA pursuant to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and are separate from the IAEA's Security Council mandate. The IAEA said the inspectors will report directly to IAEA headquarters in Vienna and will not make any public statements about their findings while in Iraq. This story was first published in Platts daily nuclear news digest Nuclear News Flashes. ------------