Platts - Thursday, December 23, 2004 http://www.platts.com ------------ U.S., Spain partner to prevent nuclear material trafficking Washington (Platts)--22Dec2004 An agreement to prevent trafficking of nuclear material was signed yesterday by the U.S. and Spain, DOE said. Special equipment would be installed at one of Spain's busiest seaports to detect and stop hidden shipments of radioactive materials, DOE said. The agreement is part of DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Megaports Initiative, which involves equipping seaports of foreign partners with radiation detection equipment. The agreement with Spain is the fifth under the initiative, DOE said. ------------ Alliant utility plans to sell share in Duane Arnold nuclear plant Portland, Maine (Platts)--22Dec2004 Interstate Power and Light plans to sell its 70% share in the 583-MW Duane Arnold Energy Center, a nuclear generating facility near Palo, Iowa, the utility said Wednesday. IP&L, a subsidiary of Madison, Wisconsin-based Alliant Energy, plans to enter into a definitive agreement with a prospective owner within six months and will then seek to obtain all appropriate state and federal regulatory approvals, the company said. IP&L expects to enter into a purchase power agreement with the prospective owner through 2014. According to IP&L, a sale now gives a prospective owner the best chance to renew the plant's operating license and continue the long-term operation of the generating facility. The sale would reduce customer and shareholder financial and operational uncertainty related to the power plant, IP&L said. The evolving nationwide trend to consolidate ownership and operations within the nuclear energy industry is also a factor in IP&L's decision, the company said. Platts Petrochemical Alert (http://www.petrochemcialalert.platts.com) ------------ USEC's CEO was `terminated' from company Washington (Platts)--21Dec2004 USEC confirmed yesterday that William Timbers was "terminated" as the company's president and CEO Dec. 14. In an 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), the company said it and Timbers plan to engage in "a dialog" over Timbers' separation package. Subsequent arbitration of any dispute is also possible, USEC said. USEC said it does not believe it is obligated to provide the payments and benefits that Timbers would have received if he had been terminated "without cause." But USEC disclosed that the maximum cash payments it would have to make if Timbers won at arbitration would "not exceed $18-million." Because some of that money has already been accrued, the impact on the company's net income would not exceed $8-million, USEC said. ------------ Exelon and PSEG merger will form largest U.S. electric utility Washington (Platts)--20Dec2004 Exelon and PSEG will merge to form the largest electric utility in the U.S., the companies announced today. If the merger is approved by federal and state regulators, and by shareholders, the new company, Exelon Electric & Gas, will have total assets of about $79-billion, a generating portfolio of 52,000 megawatts-electric, and 7-million electric customers, the companies said. The 17 reactors in its nuclear fleet will have a total generating capacity of 19,038 MW (gross). PSEG will pay Exelon Nuclear $3-million a year plus incentives under a service contract to operate the Hope Creek and Salem nuclear plants until the deal is finalized, PSEG Chairman and CEO James Ferland said today at a press conference. The companies have identified about $400- to $500-million in potential cost reductions, less than half of which were related to job reductions, Ferland said. The regulatory process to approve the merger should take about 12 to 15 months to complete, Exelon President and CEO John Rowe said. ------------ Public debate on Flamanville-3 to begin next year Paris (Platts)--17Dec2004 The proposed EPR reactor at Flamanville-3 will be the object of a debate next year, the National Commission for Public Debate said in a decision published Dec. 14 in France's Official Journal. The commission said a special committee would be named to conduct the debate, chaired by Jean-Luc Mathieu. It said that once it received a promised file from French grid company RTE about its plans to build a new high-voltage transmission line from Flamanville to accommodate the higher output from that site, it would decide whether to conduct debates on the two projects together. Electricite de France has said it hopes to pour first concrete on the 1,650-MW EPR advanced PWR in early 2007. Progress of the public debate can be followed on commission's Web site, http://www.debatpublic.fr/debats_en_cours/liste_decisions.html. ------------