Platts - Monday, May 02, 2005 http://www.platts.com ------------ All parties want early accord on Iter nuke fusion project: Japan Brussels (Platts)--2May2005 The six parties cooperating on the experimental nuclear fusion plant known as Iter are still trying to agree on the site, Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told journalists in Luxembourg Monday. "We agreed that we should engage in efforts so that the earliest possible agreement can be achieved," Koizumi said at the European Union-Japan summit. The EU hopes to convince Japan to drop its rival bid to host Iter at Rokkashomura by offering it a "privileged role" in building and operating Iter at the EU's preferred site of Cadarache in France. The EU is pushing for an agreement by mid-2005 so that it can start building at Caderache by the end of the year. The other parties are China, Russia, South Korea and the US. Koizumi was meeting with Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker--current president of the EU Council--and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. Iter is on the agenda to be discussed by EU member state ministers at the Competitiveness Council planned for May 10. This story was originally published in Platts European Power Alert http://www.europeanpoweralert.platts.com ------------ AmerGen to seek license renewal for TMI-1 Washington (Platts)--29Apr2005 AmerGen will seek license renewal for Three Mile Island-1, the Exelon subsidiary said today in a press release. The company will begin developing an application this summer and expects to submit it to NRC in mid-2007, AmerGen said. TMI-1's current license expires April 19, 2014; if approved, the request would extend the license 20 years to April 2034. ------------ Final deactivation of FFTF to begin Washington (Platts)--28Apr2005 Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) supporters denounced DOE's plans to start draining tomorrow the last of the sodium coolant from the FFTF. The final deactivation of the reactor will prevent it from future operations. FFTF supporters had wanted to privatize the FFTF for production of medical isotopes and possibly other uses. The reactor was in standby condition from 1992 until April 2003, when liquid sodium was removed from the secondary loops. FFTF boosters blamed DOE for putting the reactor on "death row" for 15 years because of "cost-benefit market economics." Supporters said the government found there was no "mission" because the U.S. "did not have an advanced nuclear program or fusion program, whose materials and fuels the reactor was designed to test." ------------ NEI welcomes Bush's proposal to increase nuclear production Washington (Platts)--27Apr2005 The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) applauded President George W. Bush's proposal today to increase nuclear production. In a speech at the U.S. Small Business Administration's national small business conference in Washington, Bush called nuclear power "one of the most promising" energy sources. Included in a broad package of proposals designed to promote greater domestic energy independence, Bush wants to offer federal insurance to cover the risk of delays that are beyond the control of companies that build the next four new nuclear power plants. For more details, see the April 28 Nucleonics Week. NEI President/CEO Frank "Skip" Bowman said the nuclear industry hoped the risk insurance would never need to be used but that its existence would give confidence to investors and financiers. "This is an example of how the federal government can act as a catalyst for advanced energy technologies that are clearly in the national interest," Bowman said. Bush's speech is at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/04/20050427-3.html. ------------