Platts - Monday, February 02, 2004 
http://www.platts.com

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French anti-nuclear group calls for closure of
Fessenheim nuke 

Paris (Platts)--2Feb2004

French anti-nuclear group "Out of Nuclear" has called
for the closure of France's Fessenheim nuclear plant,
the group reported Monday. The call comes after the
1,800MW capacity plant said seven workers were "lightly
contaminated" during maintenance work there Jan 25/26.
"Must we wait for a real nuclear catastrophe to prove
that the nuclear risk is unacceptable? The Fessenheim
plant, one of the oldest in France, should be closed,"
the group said. 

According to latest plant information, the workers were
contaminated as they changed filters on the primary
circuit of the 900MW capacity reactor-1. There was no
danger to health, the plant said. On Monday the plant
directed all enquiries about the incident to Electricite
de France's Paris HQ but no one there was immediately
available for comment. It was not clear whether the
reactor, stopped for maintenance Jan 25, had returned to
service. The anti-nuclear group has called for an
independent inquiry to "shed light" on the accident.
France's nuclear safety authority was unavailable for
comment.

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NRC schedules Davis-Besse inspection, restart meeting 

Washington (Platts)--30Jan2004

NRC has scheduled a return inspection and a restart
meeting at Davis-Besse. The agency announced that its
restart inspection team would arrive on site Feb. 2 and
that there would be a Feb. 12 public meeting to discuss
the team's findings and the request by operator
FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. to restart the plant,
which has been out of service for almost two years. The
inspection team previously visited the plant in
December, when it found numerous operational
shortcomings. NRC Region III spokesman Jan Strasma said
the inspection was expected to last about a week.

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Barsebaeck-2 to shut Feb. 1 for fuel inspection 

Stockholm (Platts)--30Jan2004

Barsebaeck-2 is set to go offline Feb. 1 for fuel
inspection of suspected fuel damage, plant management
said Jan. 30. The decision comes just a day after
Swedish regulators gave approval for the unit to
continue operating after that date, based on safety
improvements that have been made. Plant management said
that measurements made since the beginning of January
indicate an increase in noble gasses in the reactor
system, an indication of fuel damage. No estimated
restart date was given.

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