Platts - Tuesday, November 04, 2003 http://www.platts.com ------------ Washington (Nuclear News Flashes)--03Nov2003 ACRS instructed to stay out of security issues NRC told the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) it should not get involved in certain security- related issues. The commission said in an Oct. 31 staff requirements memorandum that the ACRS does not have the expertise or security clearance to work on threat assessments, physical security, or force-on-force assessments. However, the commission urged the ACRS to continue its efforts on technical issues related to the consequences of a potential terrorist strike on nuclear facilities. It also asked the committee in its review of advanced reactor designs to flag any issues that could be applied to existing reactors to improve safety or resolve technical issues. ------------ Washington (Nuclear News Flashes)--03Nov2003 Outage extended at Bruce-8 Bruce Power will extend Bruce-8's maintenance outage until later in the fourth quarter, after inspections identified some erosion on support plates in three of the unit's eight steam generators. Bruce Power said Nov. 3 a detailed investigation and analysis is ongoing on the condition of the support plates, which separate the boiler tubes as they run through the steam generators. No damage to the tubes has been identified, Bruce Power said. Any modifications will require review and approval of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, the company said. Bruce Power said inspections from previous outages have found no evidence of a similar condition in steam generators at other Bruce units. According to third- quarter earnings information released last week by Bruce Power partners Cameco Corp. and TransCanada Corp., the unit shut Sept. 20 for a planned maintenance outage that was expected to continue until the middle of the fourth quarter. ------------ London (Platts)--3Nov2003 BE restructure meets initial creditor requirements A proposed restructure of British Energy has met initial requirements on creditor approvals and sign ups, the ailing nuclear generator said Monday. As of Oct 31, bondholders representing in aggregate with The Royal Bank of Scotland 88% of the amount owed to bondholders and RBS had signed up to the deal, BE said. RBS credit committee had approved the terms of the restructure. Also as of the same date, all lenders and swap providers in the Eggborough bank syndicate had signed up to the deal with full credit committee approvals, BE said. BE warned that the proposed restructure still remained subject to "significant uncertainties and a large number of important conditions." These include European Commission approval of the state aid granted to BE as part of the deal, which the UK government expects to receive by mid 2004, BE said. The government could also decide not to proceed with the restructure if it believes the company will not be able to survive without financing in future. This story was first published in European Power Alert. ------------ Washington (Nuclear News Flashes)--31Oct2003 No volunteers yet for OSART visit in 2005 The NRC staff says that no U.S. plant has yet volunteered to host an IAEA Operational Safety & Review Team (OSART) visit in 2005. In a recent memo to the commission, Executive Director for Operations William Travers said that to reduce the burden on a volunteer plant, NRC would "appropriately modify the reactor oversight program's baseline inspection program at the site where duplication and overlap with the OSART assessment can be established." Travers also said that the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) has indicated that it would substitute the OSART mission for an annual INPO assessment. Dominion, which hosted an OSART at North Anna, has said, according to Travers, that any licensee thinking of hosting an OSART needs to consider the "intrusive impact on management resources and the culture-based (not-performance-based) nature of the review." ------------ Washington (Nuclear News Flashes)--31Oct2003 ElBaradei: IAEA making progress in Iran The IAEA is making progress verifying information Iran submitted on its nuclear program, IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said Oct. 31. ElBaradei said agency inspectors are in Iran now "visiting sites, interviewing key personnel and taking samples with a view to verifying the accuracy and completeness of this [Iran's] declaration. Sometime towards the end of the second week of November, I will be issuing a report to the [IAEA] board of governors with the results at that time of this verification process." ElBaradei added he is expecting to receive by next week a letter from the Iranian government accepting the terms of IAEA's Additional Protocol on safeguards. "When this happens, it will be a very positive step forward, particularly in terms of enabling us to effectively regulate all future nuclear activities in Iran," he said. ------------