Platts - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 
http://www.platts.com

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German phase-out may be yielding tax windfall for nuke generators

Bonn (Platts)--30Mar2005

Accounting practices used by Germany's four nuclear power generators
considerably overstate the companies' nuclear decommissioning liabilities,
European financial analysts said. 

Some experts suggested further that the methodology used by German reactor
owners may be favored in part to maximize their tax deductions against profit
and loss. Those deductions, currently permitted under German tax rules, are
now subject to a legal dispute between German generators and plaintiffs which
will go before the European Court of Justice. Analysts also suggested that the
schedule of forced reactor decommissioning under the 2000 German nuclear
energy phase-out has provided an annual tax windfall for German utilities,
since the shorter reactor lifetimes are reflected in firms' conservative
estimation of net present value of liabilities.

More details were published in Platts Global Alert
http://www.globalalert.platts.com

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ASLB to hear oral arguments for appeal in PFS case

Washington (Platts)--29Mar2005

An NRC judicial board has decided to open oral arguments on an appeal of a
crucial decision in the Private Fuel Storage LLC (PFS) proceeding. In a
memorandum issued today, a three-judge Atomic Safety & Licensing Board (ASLB)
directed attorneys for PFS, Utah, and the NRC staff to prepare their
presentations in a general manner and refrain from discussing specific
information concerning the impact of accidental military jet crashes into PFS'
proposed spent fuel storage facility. Utah, which opposes the facility, had
asked the ASLB to reconsider its Feb. 24 decision that ruled against the state
on the accidental aircraft crash consequences issue. Oral arguments will take
place at 1 p.m. April 6 in the ASLB hearing room at NRC's headquarters in
Rockville, Md.

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