Platts - Wednesday, February 11, 2004
http://www.platts.com

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NRC lowers threat level

Washington (Platts)--10Feb2004

NRC reduced the threat level for its licensees from
orange to yellow Feb. 10. The U.S. Department of
Homeland Security lowered the general terrorism threat
level from orange, or "elevated," to "yellow," or high,
last month, but for some sectors, such as nuclear
plants, the threat had remained at orange. An NRC
spokesman confirmed Feb. 10 that the agency had sent out
an advisory to its licensees notifying them of the
change, but he said the advisory would not be made
public.

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BE names John Delucca to board

Washington (Platts)--10Feb2004

British Energy's (BE) bondholders' proposal that company
restructuring expert John Delucca be appointed as a non-
executive director to the BE board of directors has been
accepted, BE announced today. BE said it agreed last
fall that the Ad Hoc Committee of Bondholders could
nominate two independent non-executive directors. "This
is the first," it said. "If they are going to have over
50% of the equity in the company after restructuring,
it's not unreasonable for them to have some input into
the process," said a well-placed source. BE's
restructuring is expected to be completed later this
year. Delucca is chief financial officer for the private
financial firm REL Consultancy Group and holds a number
of directorships and chairmanships.

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Darlington, Pickering `report cards' released

Washington (Platts)--9Feb2004

"Report cards" on the performances of Darlington and
Pickering in fourth quarter 2003 were released by
Ontario Power Generation (OPG). The reports measure
performance in such areas as safety, electricity
production, and environmental performance. Darlington's
capability factor was 81.67%, while Pickering B's was
67.79%, OPG said. The reports are on OPG's Web site
(http://www.opg.com/ops/reportcards/RepCard_4q_2003.asp).

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Energy bill could resurface as transportation amendment

Washington (Platts)--9Feb2004

A leaner version of a stalled energy bill could
resurface as an amendment to transportation legislation
in the Senate this week, Senate Energy & Natural
Resources spokeswoman Marnie Funk confirmed Feb. 9. This
latest push by committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-N.M.)
to get an energy bill through the Senate comes after his
recent meeting with House Majority Leader Tom Delay and
other House leaders. Funk declined to say what changes
might be made to the House-passed bill. But the
antinuclear group Public Citizen late last week
indicated that provisions related to a controversial
petroleum additive might be dropped from the bill.
Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook criticized the
Senate plan, saying lawmakers should "acknowledge defeat
of this monstrous energy bill and begin again with a
clean slate."

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