Platts - Thursday, May 12, 2005 http://www.platts.com ------------ Iran warns it could no longer have any respect for nuclear treaty Tehran (AFP)--12May2005 Iran will "no longer have any respect" for the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if it is prevented from using atomic technology and the full nuclear cycle for peaceful purposes, the Isna agency quoted Islamic republic's top negotiator as saying Thursday. "If Iran cannot exercise its rights with in the framework of the NPT, it will no longer have any respect for this treaty," Hassan Rowhani was quoted as telling visiting Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Kislyak. "If there are attempts to deprive Iran of its legal rights, the Iranian people will not accept giving in to force and are prepared to pay any price," Rowhani said. "Iran is not looking for a nuclear bomb, it wants to cooperate so that there are no international worries," he said. This story was first published in Platts real-time news and market reporting service Global Alert - http://www.globalalert.platts.com ------------ NRC's role is not to promote new plants, commissioners say Washington (Platts)--11May2005 Licensing and regulating, not promoting, is the NRC's role in the industry's efforts to build new nuclear power plants in the U.S., the NRC commissioners said at an all-hands meeting today. They were responding to a written question submitted anonymously during the afternoon session by an employee who indicated that some commissioners appeared to be advocating new construction. Commissioner Jeffrey Merrifield said that the agency's responsibility as a regulator is not to encourage the industry, but neither should it be discouraging it. The meeting, which has been an annual tradition since 1991, takes place under a large white tent on the grounds of the NRC complex at its Rockville, Md. headquarters. Employees took advantage of the opportunity to ask the commissioners a wide variety of questions such as their views on reprocessing, NRC work-force diversity, and the agency's relationship with the IAEA. ------------ French unions call nuclear, gas, power workers to strike June 9 London (Platts)--11May2005 French gas, power and nuclear workers are among those who have been called to strike on June 9, a CGT energy trade union spokesman said Wednesday. "The theme of the strike is industrial development and jobs," he said. French metals and chemical workers have also been called to take part in the 24-hour action that includes a protest in Paris. Unions are demanding the government drop plans to privatise Areva, the nuclear holding that controls France's biggest nuclear enterprises including construction of new reactors. They also want Electricite de France to remain 100% in public hands. French economy minister Thierry Breton has pushed back plans to sell 40% of Areva to 2006. "The revival of the nuclear industry in France and Europe can't happen with one hand on the stock exchange and finance markets," the CGT said. This story was originally published in Platts European Power Alert http://www.europeanpoweralert.platts.com ------------ Energy cooperation is economic priority: EU-Russia summit London (Platts)--11May2005 The EU and Russia pledged to continue cooperation in the framework of the EU- Russia Energy Dialogue during the 15th EU-Russia summit in Moscow Tuesday. Russian president Vladimir Putin and his ministers including the minister for energy and industry Viktor Khristenko and the EU delegation led by Luxembourg prime minister, and current president of the EU Jean-Claude Juncker adopted a package of roadmaps for the creation of four so-called "common spaces" for: economics; freedom, security and justice; external security; and research and education. Energy issues will be addressed within the framework of developing a common economic space, the European Commission said late Tuesday, and will emphasize addressing issues related to sustainability and continued reliability of energy production, distribution, transportation and use. "These Road Maps set out shared objectives for EU/Russia relations and determine the agenda for co-operation between the EU and Russia for the medium-term," the European Commission said. EU-Russian joint energy priorities include energy efficiency, energy saving and the use of renewable energy, according to the roadmap to develop an "EU- Russia economic space." "It is important to promote and protect investments in the energy sector, to facilitate the improvement of the investment climate, promote regulatory convergence and a high standard of environmental protection," the summit delegation agreed. The roadmap foresees convergence of EU and Russian energy strategies, policies and regulatory measures and the conclusion of negotiations on an agreement on trade in nuclear materials. Cooperation on energy infrastructure projects of common interest is also envisaged, as well as an evaluation of mechanisms to cover non-commercial risk of energy projects. The roadmap also calls for agreement on cooperation in the field of safety of transport of energy products, including by pipeline, rail and sea. And cooperation in the field of nuclear energy - especially nuclear safety and nuclear security - is also covered. Scientific cooperation on energy issues between the EU and Russia will be carried out within the framework of the "common space on research and education." The EU and Russia will also cooperate on studies of the feasibility of integrating their electricity markets, "including ensuring a level playing field in terms of equivalent basic rules with respect to market access, infrastructure and opening, as well as compatible environmental protection and safety standards, for electricity production." And the EU pledged to assist Russia in its gas market reforms in line with Russia's 2020 energy strategy. The EU and Russia now plan to launch a full-scale business dialogue of energy companies in Russia and the EU, according to the summit conclusions. The EU-Russia summit delegation also agreed to intensify cooperation in the field of the mining and metallurgical industry. Cooperation should focus on exchange of information and support for preparation of joint programs in areas related to the sustainability of industrial activities, industrial restructuring and regulatory convergence, the roadmap says. There was also scope to work together on analyzing what technical assistance programs are needed for modernisation, technical renovation and training in the mining sector, it added. This story was originally published in Platts European Power Alert http://www.europeanpoweralert.platts.com ------------ NRC to send inspection team to Waterford-3 Washington (Platts)--10May2005 NRC is sending a three-person special inspection team to Waterford-3 next month to learn more about an incident that occurred as the plant was shutting down for refueling. NRC said in a news release today that there were no safety consequences, but it wanted to examine Entergy's response and the risk significance of the April 19 incident, during which operators failed to open valves to inject air into the reactor coolant system as the water level was lowered. NRC said this misstep caused vapor bubbles to form and the flow to fluctuate. Operators found that when they tried to open an access hatch in the pressurizer, a vacuum had formed in the reactor system, NRC said. Crews took action to correct the situation, but NRC Region IV Administrator Bruce Mallett said the agency was looking for any lessons learned that could be shared with other plant operators. ------------ Constellation calls Areva's EPR design promising Washington (Platts)--9May2005 Constellation says Areva's EPR appears to be a promising new design and it wants NRC to dedicate the resources to review the company's pre-application documents that would support a design certification submittal. In a letter sent last week to NRC, Constellation Generation Group President Michael Wallace said his company believes the EPR could be a "viable option to meet our future forecast requirements." Constellation is a member of NuStart Energy Development LLC, an industry consortium whose goal is to develop a combined construction permit-licensing application. Constellation has not committed itself to any particular design or even decided to build a new nuclear plant, but it said if it does, it wants there to be market competition for the design. ------------