Platts - Thursday, May 20, 2004 http://www.platts.com ------------ Industry sees nuclear as best bet for Finland's baseload Helsinki (Platts)--20May2004 Nuclear power will remain Finland's best option for new baseload generation in future, according to key industry figures. But they are divided over whether further reactors will be built after the 1.6GW Olkiluoto-3, planned to come online in May 2009. Jaakko Toppila, Framatome ANPs manager for the Olkiluoto-3 project, is among the most optimistic, predicting that "when this reactor goes on line, there will be a decision in principle for the next one." Tapio Kuula, head of Fortum's heat and power division, called nuclear "the best choice for new capacity, especially taking into account the CO2 emissions." He added that the Finnish power industry's decision to build a new unit shows that the deregulated Nordic power market was working, because the market was building new capacity when economics were right. But Kuula was circumspect about building nuclear units after Olkiluoto- 3 and about whether it would have been more economic to build two reactors at the same time. "This has been very thoroughly thought out," he said. "Building one unit is the right decision." ------------ FP&L joins NuStart Energy consortium Washington (Platts)--19May2004 Florida Power & Light Co. (FP&L) has become a member of the NuStart Energy Development LLC consortium, the company said today. It joins seven other energy companies--Constellation Generation Group, Duke Energy, EDF International North America, Entergy Nuclear, Exelon Generation, Southern Co., and the Tennessee Valley Authority--and two vendors--Westinghouse Electric Co. and GE Energy--in a quest to develop a combined construction-operating license (COL). The consortium is one of three teams competing for federal funding to cost-share the engineering and design work of selected reactors and to help pay for the NRC application review. None of the energy companies in NuStart Energy have committed yet to building a new nuclear reactor, though the consortium plans to prepare applications for the AP1000 and ESBWR and then choose one for NRC to review. ------------ China committed to IAEA safeguards for Pakistan reactor Washington (Platts)--18May2004 The U.S. "would prefer" that China not supply the Chashma-II reactor to Pakistan, but sees as "encouraging" the commitment to place the reactor under site-specific IAEA safeguards, John Wolf, the State Department's assistant secretary of state for nonproliferation, said today in congressional testimony and comments to reporters. Under the guidelines of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), countries can make major nuclear exports only to recipients that accept safeguards on all their nuclear facilities, which Pakistan does not do. China is preparing to join the NSG, but because the Chashma contract was signed earlier this month, the deal is "grandfathered" under the group's rules. The NSG is to hold its annual plenary next week in Goteborg, Sweden. Three other countries-- Estonia, Lithuania, and Malta--are slated to be added to the NSG's membership, but the status of the candidates' applications is unclear because "Russia has not been positive" on Estonia and Lithuania's bids, Wolf said. ------------ Cattenom-2 to restart soon following cable fire Paris (Platts)--17May2004 Cattenom-2 will restart in a few days after verifying equipment is functioning following a fire yesterday that affected electrical cabling on the secondary side, Electricite de France (EDF) said. Firefighters spent more than two hours putting out the fire in the cables. EDF declared a site emergency, only the third time it had done so on a nuclear plant site, according to regulatory authorities, who also activated their emergency center. But because the incident was correctly brought under control, it was rated at only Level 1 (anomaly) on the International Nuclear Event Scale. ------------ Energy department conducts meeting The U.S. Department of Energy is inviting the public to a meeting to discuss its environmental management program at the Piketon uranium enrichment plant. Topics of discussion will include past accomplishments, current projects and the future of environmental cleanup at the site. The meeting will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the OSU South Centers, 1864 Shyville Road, Piketon. If you need special accomodations to attend this meeting, call the public affairs office at (740) 897-2607. ------------ USEC hands out presidential honor PIKETON -- The United States Enrichment Corp. has named Piketon uranium enrichment plant employee Reed Hauser a recipient of USEC's E-III President's Award. Hauser and Ed Jamison and Dean Terry, both employees at the plant's sister site in Paducah, KY were recognized for identifying and obtaining valuable spare equipment in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The equipment has had a significant impact on keeping production equipment online at the Paducah plant, according to a USEC press release. By using the spare equipment, USEC estimates it saved $27 million in equipment costs alone. ------------ NB04.20-3] US: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has determined that two violations of NRC requirements occurred as a result of the uranium hexafluoride (UF6) release at Honeywell's Metropolis plant in December 2003. NRC inspectors found that Honeywell employees reconfigured the fluorination system without detailed instructions, which allowed the leak to occur. During the event, Honeywell also failed to implement some parts of its emergency response plan and did not provide sufficient information to local emergency responders. The NRC considered a civil penalty against the company, but decided against taking such action since Honeywell has not been the subject of escalated enforcement action within the past two years. The NRC concluded that Honeywell took prompt and comprehensive corrective actions, exceeding those actually required. The NRC warned the company that similar violations in the future could result in further enforcement action. (Ux Weekly, 17 May, p4; FreshFUEL, 17 May, p4; Nuclear Market Review, 14 May, p2; see also News Briefing 04.16-5) ------------ [NB04.20-4] US: Construction of the proposed depleted uranium hexafluoride (UF6) conversion facility at Paducah is scheduled to start by 31 July 2004, but partial foreign ownership of the prime contractor remains an issue, according to a report in the Paducah Sun newspaper. Uranium Disposition Services (UDS) was awarded the US$558 million contract by the Department of Energy (DOE) to design, construct and operate such facilities at both Paducah and Portsmouth to make U3O8 from UF6. UDS is partly owned by Framatome ANP and there are security concerns regarding the clearance for foreign persons to enter the enrichment facility located at Paducah. (FreshFUEL, 17 May, p5; see also News Briefing 02.36-4) ------------