Platts - Thursday, October 21, 2004 
http://www.platts.com

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Westinghouse receives $3-million Exelon contract

Washington (Platts)--20Oct2004

Exelon has awarded Westinghouse a $3-million contract
for guide tube support split pin replacement services
and other refueling work during Byron-1's refueling
outage in spring 2005. In today's announcement,
Westinghouse said the contract lays the groundwork for
similar projects at three other Exelon units in 2007 and
2008. Westinghouse spokesman Vaughn Gilbert identified
those units as Byron-2 and Braidwood-1 and -2. The
design of the split pins used at Byron-1 are a key part
of reactor vessel internals and can be susceptible to
primary water stress corrosion cracking failure, "which
could affect plant operation and damage steam
generators," Westinghouse said.

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S&P lowers rating for Progress Energy

Washington (Platts)--19Oct2004

Standard & Poor's (S&P) revised its outlook on Progress
Energy to negative from stable based on uncertainties
surrounding the recovery of hurricane costs and the
company's debt reduction plans. "The `BBB' rating
reflects the consolidated credit profile of Progress
Energy and its various subsidiaries," Standard & Poor's
Ratings Services (S&P) said today. Progress Energy,
whose fleet includes four nuclear power plants--
Brunswick and Harris in North Carolina, Robinson in
South Carolina, and Crystal River in Florida--issued
short-term debt to pay costs incurred during recent
hurricanes, S&P said. It said that slowed the utility's
effort to reduce overall debt in line with S&P's rating
expectations. Progress Energy has estimated costs
resulting from three of the four recent hurricanes to
hit Florida and other parts of the southeast at $310- to
$330-million, said utility spokesman Garrick Francis.
S&P, like Platts, is a division of The McGraw-Hill
Companies.

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