Platts - Monday, February 14, 2005 http://www.platts.com ------------ Unplanned plant outages a 'feature' in 2004: British Energy London (Platts)--14Feb2005 A significant feature of the nine-month period ended Dec 31, 2004 was the volume of unplanned outages, UK nuclear generator British Energy said in its Q3 financial results Monday. Unplanned outages caused a reduction in nuclear output for the three-month and nine-month period, compared with the same periods in 2003. The most significant of the outages in the nine- month period in 2004 were those that occurred at Hartlepool and Heysham-1, BE said. The overall lost output from both of the nuke outages was 5.5TWh in the nine-month period. BE also pointed to several other unplanned outages, lasting 14 days or more during the nine-month period, which included; both units at Hartlepool during September and October with a loss of 1.1TWh; a unit at Sizewell B in April with a loss of 0.8TWh; one unit at Heysham-2 from July to August with a loss of 0.6TWh; a reactor at Torness during May with a loss of 0.5TWh; one unit at Heysham-2 from May to June with a loss of 0.4TWh; a unit at Dungeness B from late June to early August with a loss of 0.3TWh and one unit at Hunterston-B during August with a loss of 0.2TWh. This story was originally published in Platts European Power Alert http://www.europeanpoweralert.platts.com ------------ DOE waste program director to resign Washington (Platts)--11Feb2005 DOE waste program director Margaret Chu announced her resignation today. Chu, who has headed the department's repository project at Yucca Mountain, Nev. since 2002, will return to her home in New Mexico "due to personal circumstances," DOE said. Her resignation will go into effect on or about Feb. 25, DOE said. Her resignation, which is not unusual for a presidential appointee at the start of a new term, had long been rumored. Several past and present DOE employees, as well as nuclear industry officials, are being looked at for the job, sources said. Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), who had pushed for Chu's confirmation in 2002, will work with Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman to find a replacement for Chu, a committee spokeswoman said. DOE has not said who will step in as acting director in the interim. ------------ Gas to play main role in replacing German nuclear power: survey Freiburg (Platts)--11Feb2005 Some 46% of German energy industry players interviewed for a bi-annual survey on the country's future power fuel mix, believe that gas will play the main part in replacing nuclear power, economic institute ZEW said Friday. The experts believe that in a 'green' option, gas would be complemented by renewable power sources. The other half of interviewees believe in a 'grey' scenario (conventional power plus imports). The options given were gas, coal, renewables, energy saving and imports. But opinions were divided on which fuel gas would have to be combined with in the fuel mix: 31% believe gas with coal, 20% gas plants and power imports, 15% gas and renewables. The ZEW said the grey scenario was based on the belief nuclear power could only be replaced with already-existing technology, or security of supply would be "acutely in danger". The green scenario is based on current expectations that renewables will cover 20% of German demand by 2020, the government's target date for nuclear withdrawal. Nuclear covers almost one third of German generation. This story was originally published in Platts European Power Alert http://www.europeanpoweralert.platts.com ------------ NRC issues draft safety report in Exelon's ESP application Washington (Platts)--10Feb2005 NRC staff issued today a draft safety analysis for Exelon's early site permit (ESP) application. The staff is waiting for more information from Exelon to close out several issues before it makes a recommendation to the commission on whether an ESP should be issued. If the agency approves the permit, Exelon would have up to 20 years, or longer if it sought an extension, to decide whether to build another plant on its Clinton site. William Beckner, director of NRC's new, research and test reactors program, called the draft safety evaluation (SER) report an "important milestone" in the review process. A supplement to the draft is expected by May 31 and a final report later this year. NRC staff's review is anticipated to be completed in summer 2006. The draft SER will be publicly released in two weeks, Beckner said.