Platts - Thursday, July 15, 2004 http://www.platts.com ------------ Entergy expecting increased second quarter earnings Washington (Platts)--14Jul2004 Entergy Nuclear is expected to report higher second quarter earnings compared to the same period a year ago in spite of a forced outage at Vermont Yankee, parent company Entergy Corp. said today. A main transformer fire June 18 shut down the plant for 18 days. The company said there was an increase in the number of megawatt-hours generated, as well as improved contract prices. Entergy Corp.'s earnings also reportedly increased compared to 2003 second quarter earnings, which included a one-time $65.5-million loss to net income as a result of a Texas appeals court ruling disallowing the recovery of construction costs for River Bend. Entergy will hold a teleconference on its quarterly earnings Aug. 2. ------------ Pilgrim union to vote on labor contract Washington (Platts)--13Jul2004 Pilgrim's union and Entergy may have averted a plant strike, both sides said today after agreeing on a tentative labor contract. About 300 employees had been prepared to stop working if there wasn't a compromise offer by midnight tonight. Another 100 workers were expected to show solidarity with the striking workers and refuse to report to work, the union had said. Members of the Utility Workers Union of America, Local 369, are scheduled to vote on the proposed deal on Thursday. Pilgrim spokesman Dave Tarantino described the mood of the work force as "relieved" following the conclusion of the negotiations. He said he did not have details of the agreement. ------------ Nevada wants NRC to strike DOE's LSN certification Washington (Platts)--12Jul2004 Nevada has asked NRC to strike DOE's licensing support network (LSN) certification, saying DOE is not "even close" to satisfying LSN certification requirements. NRC regulations are clear that the initial certification must include all documents, the state said in a petition filed today with the prelicense application presiding officer. "The opportunity to provide additional certifications as new documentary material comes into existence cannot remedy defects in the initial certification," the petition stated. By the time DOE issued the certification June 30, it had transferred roughly 500,000 documents to the LSN and said that the Web-based LSN would eventually contain all 1.2-million documents posted on a special DOE site. However, Nevada added, the department has since asked NRC to return roughly 150,000 documents on alleged privacy and security grounds.