Platts - Wednesday, November 26, 2003 http://www.platts.com ------------ Washington (Nuclear News Flashes)--26Nov2003 NRC disagrees on possible sump failure at Indian Point NRC disagrees there's a near certainty of failure for Indian Point's containment sumps if there were an accident, said Chairman Nils Diaz. The chairman responded recently to letters from New York legislators, who wrote they were concerned that NRC is not taking steps to require Indian Point operator Entergy to immediately fix any problems that might cause debris generated during a loss-of-coolant accident to clog the sump screens. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) and Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) told NRC last month they were concerned that an NRC- commissioned study found the Indian Point sumps were "almost certain" to fail in a severe accident. Diaz, however, said NRC does not believe that is the case and that the issue is being resolved as part of a larger effort to examine the condition of all PWR sumps. ------------ Washington (Nuclear News Flashes)--26Nov2003 EU selects Cadarache for ITER site The EU chose Cadarache, France, as its preferred site Nov. 26 for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). According to the ITER Web site (http://www.iter.org), agreement was also reached by the European Council of Ministers to locate the administrative headquarters of the European branch of the project in Spain. The website said the next step will be to reach agreement by the end of the year on the site, cost sharing, and project leadership with the other countries involved in the ITER project--Canada, Japan and Russia. ------------ London (Platts)--26Nov2003/735 am EST/1235 GMT UK plans energy bill to cover nuclear decommissioning, renewables The UK government plans to set up a Nuclear Decommissioning Agency as part of a new energy law, the UK head of state Queen Elizabeth II said at the state opening of Parliament Wednesday. The Department of Trade and Industry confirmed that the government planned a bill to "implement the commitments" made in its February 2003 energy white paper to help meet its renewables targets, secure reliable supplies and promote competitive energy markets. The NDA would be responsible for ensuring the decommissioning and clean up of the UK's civil public sector nuclear sites. The planned bill would also create a single wholesale electricity market for Britain; a new Civil Nuclear Police Authority to oversee the present UK Atomic Energy Authority police force; a legal framework to support offshore renewable energy developments such as windfarms and provisions intended to secure reliable energy supplies, such as a special administration regime for energy companies facing insolvency. This story was first published in European Power Alert. ------------ Washington (Nuclear News Flashes)--25Nov2003 Constellation to pay $401-million for Ginna Constellation won the bidding to buy Ginna, it announced Nov. 25. Constellation said that, contingent on NRC's extending Ginna's license to 2029, it will pay Rochester Gas & Electric (RG&E) $401-million for the 517-MW Westinghouse PWR. The NRC decision is expected in June 2004. The deal includes a 10-year power purchase agreement to sell back 90% of Ginna's power at $44/megawatt-hour. Constellation said it intends to uprate the unit 17% in the coming five years. Constellation owns Calvert Cliffs-1 and -2 and Nine Mile Point-1, and 82% of Nine Mile Point-2. ------------ Washington (Nuclear News Flashes)--25Nov2003 Framatome to replace St. Lucie steam generators FPL chose Framatome to supply two replacement steam generators for St. Lucie-2. Framatome ANP said Nov. 25 that the new generators will be manufactured at the company's Chalon St. Marcel plant in France. The steam generators are scheduled to be delivered to Florida Power & Light's (FPL) 882-MW PWR in July 2007 and installed during a fall 2007 refueling outage, Framatome said. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed. ------------