Platts - Friday, April 15, 2005 http://www.platts.com ------------ EDF say Enel agreement to go to EC within "a few days" London (Platts)--15Apr2005 EDF said Friday that its agreement to sell French nuclear power generation capacity to Italy's Enel would be submitted to the European Commission for approval "within a few days." This week, both Enel and EDF said the talks were going well. Enel could agree to a Eur3-mil investment in the new 1.5GW EPR reactor at Flamanville in France as well as buying a 35% stake in SNET, France's second-largest power producer. A move by the Italian state-owned company into French generation could lead to the abolition of a 2% cap on voting rights for EDF in Italy that was put in place when the French power giant entered the Italian market without first liberalsing its own market. Market sources say there is a strong link between EDF's participation in Italy, where they have become majority shareholders in Italenergia, and their discussions with Enel, and that EDF will only stay in Italy if the 2% voting right law is abolished. Italenergie is the holding company of Italy's second-largest power company Edison. This story was originally published in Platts European Power Alert http://www.europeanpoweralert.platts.com ------------ House Energy Committee passes energy legislation Washington (Platts)--14Apr2005 Energy legislation cleared the House Energy & Commerce Committee late April 13. The 39-16 voice vote came after three days of debate in which Republicans rejected an attempt by committee Democrats to remove controversial language shielding producers of the gasoline additive MTBE from defective-product lawsuits. That language stymied Senate action on the bill last year, killing it. Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), chairman of the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee, today praised House Energy Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas) for his leadership and bipartisan effort on the bill. Domenici said he was particularly pleased to see that the bill passed the House committee "by such a wide, bipartisan margin." He said he would try to build on Barton's success when the Senate Energy Committee takes up the bill this spring. The bill is expected to move to the House floor for a vote next week. ------------ German EnBW to coordinate reactor data with wind power plant London (Platts)--14Apr2005 EnBW plans to share information on managing its 806MW Brunsbuttel nuclear power plant with the neighboring wind energy plant belonging to Repower at a daily public forum, the Baden-Wurttemberg utility said Thursday. "We want to keep on good terms with our neighbors and pass on information about both forms of power production under one roof," EnBW said in a statement. Repower brought online the world's biggest wind power turbine, a 5MW unit in Brunsbuttel, in February. With a nameplate capacity of 5,000kW, it expected to produce 17-mil kWh of power per year. The Brunsbuttel reactor has produced around 5-mil kWh of power in the past year. "As a company, we have a balanced energy mix from fossil fuels, renewable energy and nuclear power and as such wind energy can also play its part," EnBW said. This story was originally published in Platts European Power Alert http://www.europeanpoweralert.platts.com ------------ House approves NRC's fee recovery requirement amendment Washington (Platts)--13Apr2005 NRC's 90% fee recovery requirement would remain in effect beyond fiscal 2005 under an amendment approved today by the House Energy & Commerce Committee. The amendment, submitted by Rep. Ralph Hall (R-Texas), was one of several proposals offered to the nuclear section of a comprehensive energy bill the committee is preparing. Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas) expects the bill to be sent to the House floor for a vote as soon as next week. Several nuclear-related amendments offered by Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) were voted down, including one that would have required NRC to act on recommendations by a National Academy of Sciences panel for measures to further secure spent fuel, and another mandating a study on potential health risks of living near nuclear plants. ------------ UK Labour party manifesto calls for energy mix including nuclear London (Platts)--13Apr2005 The UK Labour party Wednesday published its manifesto ahead of the May 5 general election, and pledged to work towards a balanced energy mix including nuclear power. "We have a major program to promote renewable energy," the manifesto says, "as part of a strategy of having a mix of energy sources from nuclear power stations to clean coal to micro-generators." The manifesto did not go into greater detail, although it says also that the UK is a "leading force" in opening up European energy markets and that climate change and security of supply are at the heart of energy policy. The manifesto does not seem a great shift from the policies already put in place by Labour party, which has been in power since 1997. The manifesto also includes a pledge to work to include aviation in the European Union's emissions trading scheme, another point Labour has spoken about previously. And the scope for incentives for lower emission vehicles will be examined. New communities, such as Thames Gateway housing, will be encouraged to be energy efficient. Labour's 1997 manifesto seemed anti-nuclear, but its 2001 manifesto was more positive. This story was originally published in Platts European Power Alert http://www.europeanpoweralert.platts.com ------------ Bodman says two U.S. research reactors are converting to LEU Washington (Platts)--12Apr2005 Two U.S. high-enriched uranium (HEU) fueled research reactors are converting to low-enriched uranium (LEU), Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman announced yesterday. Under DOE's schedule, the reactors at the University of Florida and Texas A&M University are to complete their conversion from HEU to LEU by late 2006. The conversions will be a joint effort of DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration and Office of Nuclear Energy, Science, & Technology, Bodman said. For details, see the April 11 edition of NuclearFuel. ------------ NRC must sort out spent fuel control, accountability Washington (Platts)--12Apr2005 The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission should establish specific requirements for control and accounting of spent fuel at nuclear reactors, the Government Accountability Office recommended in a report released Friday. It also suggested NRC establish inspection procedures to verify compliance and assess licensees' tracking programs. The report, requested by four legislators, was prompted by the discovery of missing spent fuel at Dominion's Millstone in 2000 and at Entergy Nuclear's Vermont Yankee and Pacific Gas and Electric Co's Humboldt Bay plants in 2004. The fuel later was accounted for at Vermont Yankee, but never found at Millstone. Officials still are searching for the fuel at Humboldt Bay. The GAO report said NRC generally agreed with its conclusions and that it will revise its guidance and inspection procedures for material control and accounting programs. This story was originally published in Platts Electricity Alert http://www.electricityalert.platts.com ------------ USEC announces new enrichment contract with Constellation Washington (Platts)--11Apr2005 USEC announced a new SWU contract with a Constellation Energy Group subsidiary for the company's five reactors. Under the contract, valued at $200-million, USEC said it will continue to supply Constellation with enrichment services that come from the downblending of Russian warhead high-enriched uranium (HEU). USEC buys about 5.5-million SWU/yr from Russia's Techsnabexport under that HEU deal. The new contract will cover deliveries from 2007 to 2012, USEC said. Constellation, in a 10-K filing March 11 with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, said that it had commitments that would provide 100% of its SWU requirements through 2010 and 25% of those requirements in 2011 and 2012. USEC declined further comment about the Constellation contract. It has been a fuel supplier to Constellation for more than a decade. ------------