Platts - Saturday, October 25, 2003 http://www.platts.com ------------ Washington (Nuclear News Flashes)--24Oct2003 Missing fuel rod found at Westinghouse plant Westinghouse found a fuel rod that was missing at its Columbia, S.C. fuel fabrication facility. Westinghouse Electric Co. notified NRC Oct. 22 that it had found the rod, which contains 85 grams of U-235, "under a fuel rod handling conveyor in a position that was not readily visible to individuals performing search activities." In the notification, which appeared Oct. 24 in NRC's daily events report, the company said, "[T]he cause of how the rod came to be in the location it was found is currently being investigated." Westinghouse had notified NRC Oct. 21 of the rod's disappearance. The company said at the time that the last recorded observation of the rod was as it was being "seal welded in the chemical area after having been loaded with fuel pellets." ------------ London (Nuclear News Flashes)--24Oct2003 Pipe weld anomalies discovered at Sizewell B British Energy (BE) found "anomalies" on two welds during inspection of Sizewell B's turbine steam system but said it would not be able to confirm if the "unusual indications" were cracks until next week, after further investigation. Sizewell B started its sixth refueling and maintenance outage Oct. 4 and has been undergoing a series of inspections of its primary and secondary systems, with some 180 welds checked. A British BE source told Platts Oct. 24 that an ultrasonic test had indicated anomalies in the main pipework between a steam generator and a turbine but other tests had not uncovered anything unusual. If a crack were to be confirmed, he said, there could be two alternatives, either a repair in situ, or removal of the suspect material and its replacement. Depending on the severity, the work could take from two to 10 weeks. If no repair is necessary, "the plant could be back (in service) within three weeks," BE said in a stock exchange announcement Oct. 23. ------------ Washington (Nuclear News Flashes)--23Oct2003 Exelon third quarter earnings down Exelon reported operating income of $535-million for the third quarter, down 3% from the $551-million earned during the same period last year. Exelon attributed the drop to lower electricity sales due to mild weather and decreased revenues from one of its business units. Exelon said its nuclear fleet, excluding the AmerGen units that it operates (Clinton, Oyster Creek and Three Mile Island-1), produced 30,152 gigawatt-hours during the quarter, up from 29,817 GWH in third quarter 2002. Capacity factor for the fleet, including the AmerGen units, rose to 95.3%, from 93.9% in third quarter 2002. ------------ Stockholm (Nuclear News Flashes)--23Oct2003 Barsebaeck-2 may have broken nuclear law There is sufficient evidence to begin investigating whether Swedish nuclear law was violated by management at Barsebaeck Kraft AB (BKAB), which holds the operating license for Barsebaeck-2, the prosecutor in charge of the case said Oct. 23. The Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate (SKI) filed a criminal complaint against BKAB in August, saying there was reason to believe the law was broken when the reactor was operated under abnormal conditions, with decreased safety margins. Barsebaeck management denies any legal wrongdoing. If convicted, several managers face fines and jail sentences of up to two years each. The prosecutor said he expects it will take at least a year before the investigation is finished. ------------