Platts - Wednesday, December 10, 2003 http://www.platts.com ------------ Washington (Nuclear News Flashes)--09Dec2003 DOE said to agree to spent fuel take-back extension Foreign research reactor operators say DOE has agreed to extend the deadline for accepting spent fuel from their facilities under the department's "take-back" program, a spokesman for the operators said Dec. 9. Jack Edlow, the president of Edlow International Co., made the announcement at a press conference in Washington, D.C. after he and the operators held meetings Dec. 8-9 with representatives of the administration and Congress. As recently as August, DOE had turned down a request from Edlow for the extension. But in a press release, the group quoted a DOE official as saying, "It is not a question of if the program would be extended, but only how and when." DOE issued no official comment. The take- back program is a part of a DOE effort to remove high- enriched uranium (HEU) from civilian commerce. To encourage operators to convert from HEU to low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel, DOE is taking back not only fresh and spent HEU fuel, but also spent LEU fuel from the reactors. Under the current schedule, the U.S. will take back fuel that is discharged by May 2006 and shipped by May 2009. ------------ Washington (Nuclear News Flashes)--09Dec2003 Domenici criticizes U.S., Russia over liability dispute Sen. Pete Domenici criticized Dec. 9 both the U.S. and Russia for allowing a dispute over liability indemnification to hold up progress on plutonium disposition. Domenici (R-N.M.) listed a number of "challenges" in U.S. nonproliferation efforts and said the delay in the disposition program is his "greatest personal disappointment." Speaking at a conference at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Domenici said, "Shame on both our nations" for allowing the "wrangling" to slow "the absolutely vital plutonium disposition program." At the same conference, Paul Longsworth, the DOE's top nonproliferation official, said Dec. 8 he was "optimistic we'll be able solve the liability problem" without causing serious delays to the construction of the mixed-oxide fuel fabrication plants that the U.S. and Russia are building in parallel to turn ex-weapons plutonium into reactor fuel. ------------ Washington (Nuclear News Flashes)--08Dec2003 Davis-Besse restart meeting scheduled Dec. 18 A meeting to discuss the possible startup of Davis-Besse has been scheduled for Dec. 18, but the meeting could be changed if planned startup activities are delayed, the agency said Dec. 8. Specifically, NRC said that the meeting is contingent on Davis-Besse beginning preparations for startup which involve gradually building up heat and pressure in the reactor cooling system using the reactor cooling pumps. If these activities are delayed, the restart meeting, and a meeting to be held later that day on the findings from an NRC inspection of management and human performance, including safety culture, at the plant will be held at a later date. NRC Region III spokesman Jan Strasma said that plant operator FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co.'s scheduled date of Dec. 11 to move the plant into mode 4 has "slipped a couple of days" and that NRC will begin its observation of startup activities late this week. ------------ Ottawa (Nuclear News Flashes)--08Dec2003 Bruce Power's unit 3 approaching criticality Bruce Power's unit 3 was approaching criticality Dec. 8 after regulators gave the go-ahead Dec. 5 for restart, a company spokesman said. After the 904-MW unit clears a series of safety and operating system tests, it could be reconnected to Ontario's grid later this month, Bruce Power said. All four Bruce A reactors (units 1-4) were taken out of service in 1998 for extensive repairs and upgrades. Unit 4 returned to service in early October; there are no plans to restart units 1 or 2. ------------