Platts - Friday, August 22, 2003 http://www.platts.com ------------ Washington (Nuclear News Flashes)--21Aug2003 NRC issues bulletin on leakage from lower penetrations NRC issued a final bulletin Aug. 21 on leakage from PWR pressure vessel lower head penetrations. The bulletin (2003-02) requires licensees to submit, within 60 days after restarting a unit, certain information on inspections of reactor pressure vessel lower head penetrations. A draft of the bulletin had given licensees only 30 days to submit the information. ------------ Washington (Nuclear News Flashes)--21Aug2003 NRC criticizes spent fuel pool hazards study NRC dismissed as "deficient" a study on spent fuel pool hazards. The agency's full rebuttal of the study, "Reducing the Hazards from Stored Spent Power-Reactor Fuel in the United States," published in the spring issue of Princeton University's journal Science & Global Security, will appear in the same publication. In an Aug. 19 letter to the journal's editor, Chairman Nils Diaz said the staff believes eight authors of the paper used assumptions that were too conservative and unrealistic to warrant moving spent fuel that had been stored more than five years in pools to dry storage casks. The study had claimed that the potential for a terrorist attack justified the estimated $3.5- to $7- billion cost of building more dry storage and placing the remaining used fuel into "open-frame" storage in the pools. NRC said in its response that both wet and dry storage in the U.S. offered appropriate protective measures. ------------ Washington (Nuclear News Flashes)--20Aug2003 Halliburton gets export license for Iraq work An export license sought by Halliburton for Iraq reconstruction work was approved Aug. 20 by the NRC. The commissioners agreed to issue a license for the export of radioactive byproduct and source material contained in devices used in or to calibrate oil well logging equipment to Halliburton Energy Services (HES) and affiliate companies of its parent, Halliburton Co. NRC set three conditions: the material must remain under Halliburton's control with no transfer of ownership without NRC approval; the license expires Sept. 30, 2004; and Halliburton must report the actual shipments of americium-241 to NRC. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded a contract several months ago to Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) to extinguish oil well fires and rehabilitate hydrocarbon and petrochemical facilities in Iraq. The license to HES, which had requested NRC conduct an expedited review, would support KBR's post-war work. ------------ Paris (Nuclear News Flashes)--20Aug2003 Cooler weather eases France's power supply worries France's power supply worries are easing this week due to improved weather conditions, according to Electricite de France (EDF). In a statement, the company predicted that through Aug. 25, there will be no production shortages, as the country's heat wave has eased in time to allow capacity to cover demand, which traditionally begins to increase this time of year. EDF said it will take advantage of higher coolant water emissions allowances at a small number of reactors as permitted through Sept. 30, but the situation will be monitored and adjusted on a daily basis. The overall average drop in temperatures by around 10 degrees C in recent days should prevent coolant water temperatures from increasing, although lack of rain remains a concern. According to grid organization RTE, in recent weeks the current peak load has increased by about 3,500 MW. French industry was concerned that if last week's heat wave continued into late August as demand continued to increase, shortages would result. In Germany this week, power companies and regulators likewise said the threat of reactor shutdowns and continued output reductions was receding in the wake of cooler weather and rainfall. ------------ Washington (Nuclear News Flashes)--19Aug2003 NRC plans to issue refueling outage inspections bulletin NRC plans to soon issue a proposed bulletin requiring inspections during every refueling outage of the circumference of each penetration nozzle attached to the bottom of a unit's reactor vessel. After receiving comments, NRC expects to finalize the bulletin by next month. The proposed bulletin was prompted by the reactor coolant leaks found on the vessel bottom at South Texas- 1 in April. It would affect licensees of PWRs with bottom-mounted penetration nozzles. If a complete inspection couldn't be conducted, the licensee would be required to inspect what it could and to conduct the 100% inspections during the following refueling outage. That also is when any plant modifications, such as the removal and installation of redesigned insulation covering the vessel would be done. The proposed bulletin, discussed Aug. 19 during an NRC meeting with industry officials, is posted on the NRC Web site at: (http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/ops- experience/bottom-head-penetration-leakage/public- meetings.html). ------------