Platts - Monday, June 23, 2003 
http://www.platts.com

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London (Nuclear News Flashes)--20Jun2003

`World nuclear university' to open in September

A world nuclear university (WNU) will be launched in
early September at the World Nuclear Association's (WNA)
annual conference in London, with the intent of
strengthening the industry's educational foundations.
WNA Director General John Ritch said June 19 in
Manchester at the U.K.'s annual nuclear industry the WNU
will use a small core faculty and a secretariat, based
in London, to link leading institutions of nuclear
education and research in the 22 countries that have
already expressed an interest. Ritch said the project
has been a collaborative effort among the WNA, the World
Association of Nuclear Operators, the IAEA, and OECD's
Nuclear Energy Agency. The aim is to harmonize curricula
and credentials; stimulate student interest and
scholarship support; promote the highest standards of
ethics and performance; and share courses, faculty and
facilities. The WNU will encompass all nuclear
technologies, said Ritch, with a special emphasis on
nuclear energy, he said. 

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Washington (Nuclear News Flashes)--20Jun2003

Proposed settlement would help PG&E out of bankruptcy

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) and California state
regulators reached a proposed settlement that would
resolve PG&E's bankruptcy case, allowing the company to
emerge from Chapter 11 early next year as an investment-
grade utility. PG&E, owner of Diablo Canyon, and parent
PG&E Corp. announced the proposed agreement June 19,
calling it the quickest way to resolve the bankruptcy
case in manner fair to its customers and investors.
"While PG&E would remain an integrated utility subject
to state regulation, we believe that this proposed
settlement can resolve the financial issues that led to
our seeking bankruptcy protection, allow the utility to
move forward on a sound financial basis, and also
establish a more stable regulatory environment for the
future," PG&E stated. The utility said it would maintain
its current electric rates through the end of the year,
but start to reduce them in January. PG&E also agreed to
provide conservation easements or fee interests in
roughly 400,000 acres of PG&E watersheds and other
lands, near its hydroelectric facilities and in San Luis
Obispo County, where Diablo Canyon is located. PG&E
filed bankruptcy in 2001 after its state-set electric
rates failed to cover tens of millions of the cost of
power on the state's market.

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