Platts - Wednesday, April 27, 2005 http://www.platts.com ------------ Ontario needs to replace coal plants with gas, nuclear: study Philadelphia (Platts)--27Apr2005 The most cost-effective way for Ontario to secure its future capacity needs would be to shut down its coal-fired plants and replace them with new gas-fired plants and refurbished nuclear plants, according to a study by DSS Management Consultants, RWDI Air and Peter Victor, former head of the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University. The study, for the province's energy ministry, compared the financial, health and environmental costs of four scenarios. It found that the combined health and generation-cost impact of the continued operation of Ontario Power Generation's coal-fired fleet would be more than twice that of replacing it with new gas plant and refurbished nuclear plant. The study said the annual health and generation cost of continued reliance on coal would be about C$4.4-bil ($3.5-bil), while replacing coal with gas-fired and nuclear generation would cost C$1.9-bil; replacing coal with gas-fired generation only would cost C$2.6-bil, and fitting the coal plants with emissions control equipment would cost C$2.8-bil. Ontario Energy Minister Dwight Duncan said at the release of the study that coal-fired generation "is costing the people of Ontario more than the number on their electricity bills. This study shows the true cost of coal is in air pollution-related illness, hospital visits and premature deaths. That's why we are committed to replacing coal-fired generation with cleaner sources of electricity." Ontario's ruling Liberal Party government has promised to shut down all of OPG's coal plants by the end of 2007 as long as there is sufficient replacement capacity in operation, but has been under pressure from some local governments to keep coal plants in their area in operation and to fit them with emission-control equipment to reduce their environmental impact. This story was originally published in Platts Natural Gas Alert http://www.naturalgasalert.platts.com ------------ Russia must close 12 nukes to boost power exports to EU: EC Brussels (Platts)--27Apr2005 Russia will have to close 12 nuclear reactors before the European Union will allow it to sell power to more EU members, the European Commission's director general for energy, Francois Lamoureux, said Tuesday. "Russia is fascinated by selling power to the EU," Lamoureux told the European Parliament's energy committee. Russia already sells power to Finland, which joined the EU in the mid-1990s. But the EU is insisting that Russia improves its nuclear safety up to EU levels first--which would include closing 12 reactors--before it can sell into the lucrative wider EU market. "The Russian authorities are not being tremendously helpful on this point," said Lamoureux. "But we don't sincerely believe that the network would be able to distinguish between nuclear and other sources of power." The EU made improving nuclear safety a condition of the accession treaties of the former Soviet bloc countries which joined the EU in May 2004--and both Lithuania and Slovakia had to agree to close nuclear reactors which the EU considered unsafe in the long term. This story was originally published in Platts European Power Alert http://www.europeanpoweralert.platts.com ------------ DOE finalizes agreement with NuStart consortium Washington (Platts)--26Apr2005 DOE has finalized a cooperative agreement with NuStart Energy Development LLC that the industry consortium will use to develop a detailed schedule and budget for selecting up to two potential sites for new power reactors, DOE Under Secretary Clay Sell said today. Sell made the announcement during a Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee hearing in which he assured the panel of the Bush administration's commitment to a revival of nuclear power in the U.S. NuStart, a consortium of nine nuclear generating companies and two reactor vendors, is considering seeking licenses for two sites. NuStart plans to submit an application for a combined construction and operating license to NRC in 2008 and to receive a license two years later. ------------ Areva, Alstom expect to sign contracts soon for Chinese PWRs Paris (Platts)--25Apr2005 Areva and Alstom hope to sign contracts for Ling Ao Phase 2 within a few days, spokesmen for the two French firms said today. Areva Chairman Anne Lauvergeon and Alstom Chairman Patrick Kron accompanied French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin on a state visit to China last week, but the companies denied statements by Raffarin aides that the contracts to supply equipment for the next two PWRs in Guangdong Province had been signed. Both said the negotiations with Chinese customers were "being finalized." Alstom said it hoped to sign a contract to supply the conventional islands for the Ling Ao Phase 2 units by the end of this week. Areva said it expected to sign a contract with China Guangdong Nuclear Power Co. (CGNPC) for nuclear steam supply systems and instrumentation and control for the Ling Ao units worth "about 400-million euros" (about U.S.$520-million). Last week, Lauvergeon signed agreements for cooperation with China National Nuclear Corp. and for technical assistance with CGNPC. ------------ NRC releases new guidance on fire protection Washington (Platts)--22Apr2005 NRC has published new guidance on fire protection, the agency announced today. The regulatory information summary (RIS) details "the proper method for altering [nuclear power plant operators'] fire protection program to use alternate compensatory measures," NRC said in a press release. The RIS recommends a "documented evaluation" of the effectiveness of these measures for various fire conditions. The RIS is on NRC's Adams document system (accession number ML042360547). ------------ Head of DOE's energy program announces resignation Washington (Platts)--21Apr2005 The head of DOE's nuclear energy program announced his resignation, effective May 15. William D. Magwood IV made the announcement today in a closed-door meeting of DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy, Science & Technology staff. He gave no indication in a DOE memorandum why he was leaving; however, industry officials said his departure had long been rumored. Magwood was appointed director of DOE's office of nuclear energy in November 1998. At that time, "the federal nuclear energy research and development program had collapsed; the United States had lost its preeminence as a leader in the exploration of advanced nuclear technology; the future of nuclear energy was in doubt; and nuclear education in the United States was in freefall," Magwood stated in the memorandum. Under his direction, DOE launched two advanced reactor efforts; Nuclear Power 2010 aimed at the near-term deployment of a Generation III+ reactor; and Generation IV, aimed at the development of next generation reactor concepts. R. Shane Johnson, the program's deputy director of technology, will be acting director. ------------ US NRC fines FirstEnergy $5.5-mil for Davis-Besse unit violations Washington (Platts)--21Apr2005 The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission plans to fine FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co (Fenoc) a total of $5.45-mil for violations connected with a leakage from the 906-MW Besse Davis plant's reactor vessel head, it said Thursday. The agency said $5-mil of the fine was for restarting the Ohio plant after an outage in 2000 "without fully characterizing and eliminating" the leakage. The plant was shut down for two years after the discovery in 2002 of severe degradation resulting from the leakage. The other $450,000 of the fine was for providing incomplete and inaccurate information to the NRC. Fenoc has 90 days to respond to the proposal. A spokesman for the company said it was reviewing the documents the NRC had provided. This story was originally published in Platts Electricity Alert http://www.electricityalert.platts.com ------------ White House supports nuclear provisions in energy bill Washington (Platts)--20Apr2005 The administration supports the use of more nuclear power to diversify the country's energy supply, the White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) said today, referring to provisions in House energy legislation (H.R.6) that was being debated on the House floor at press time. President George W. Bush's administration strongly supports passage of H.R.6, which OMB said would benefit consumers by "increasing energy supplies while protecting the environment and by fostering greater competition in the marketplace." OMB called nuclear power "an important emissions-free component of the nation's energy portfolio," adding that the administration supported the bill's reauthorization of Price-Anderson nuclear liability insurance. The administration, however, is concerned by the bill's potential cost, OMB said. It noted that tax incentives in the bill exceeded the president's fiscal 2006 budget request for $6.7-billion over 10 years for alternative and renewable fuels, conservation, energy efficiency, and emissions-free energy. ------------