Platts - Friday, May 20, 2005 http://www.platts.com ------------ Sale of 25.2% share in South Texas Project completed Washington (Platts)--19May2005 American Electric Power (AEP) subsidiary AEP Texas Central Co. has completed the sale of its 25.2% share in the South Texas Project (STP) nuclear plant to two of STP's owners, Texas Genco LLC and CPS Energy, for roughly $314-million, AEP said today. The two-unit STP has a combined generating capacity of 2,630 MW. Texas Genco bought 13.2% of STP for $164-million, giving it a 44% share in the plant. CPS purchased 12% of STP for roughly $150-million, boosting its total interest in the plant to 40%. The City of Austin, which owns 16% of STP, did not elect to buy a piece of AEP's share. AEP signed the sales agreements last September. ------------ House earmarks NRC FY-06 increase for risk analyses Washington (Platts)--18May2005 NRC would get $21-million more than its $701.7-million FY-06 request under a measure approved today by the House Appropriations Committee. The additional funding is to be used by the NRC for performing technical analyses on spent fuel storage risks and to respond to other security-related recommendations in a July 2004 study by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). The committee said in a report accompanying the budget bill that it "expects NRC to redouble its efforts to address the NAS-identified deficiencies, and to direct, not request, industry to take prompt corrective actions." The agency would have to recoup the additional money through fees charged to its licensees. ------------ Dutch Borssele nuke production unaffected by Greenpeace action Brussels (Platts)--18May2005 Power output from the Dutch Borssele nuclear power plant was unaffected by the protest Wednesday of 45 Greenpeace activists, the operator said. The activists broke into the grounds of Borssele, the last remaining Dutch nuclear power plant. Eight climbed onto the roof of the plant and painted a crack in it. EPZ, who own the site, said that production and power output were not affected. "Everything ran as normal, nothing was shut down," said a spokesperson. EPZ is owned equally by Essent and Delta. Workers were prevented from entering the site under the company's own security measures. The Borssele site is due to close in 2013 but the issue is under discussion in the Dutch Parliament. Greenpeace told Platts they were protesting as "it is impossible to have a 100% secure nuclear power plant." This story was originally published in Platts European Power Alert http://www.europeanpoweralert.platts.com ------------ DOE to drop nuclear incentives, focus on operating delays Washington (Platts)--17May2005 Instead of up-front cash incentives for new reactors, the Bush administration now proposes that Congress focus on preventing and minimizing the impacts of possible post-construction operating delays, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said today. Bodman told industry officials at the Nuclear Energy Institute's (NEI) Nuclear Energy Assembly in Washington, D.C. that raising the evidentiary bar for a potential post-construction hearing would introduce more certainty into the licensing process. Federal risk insurance, he added, would cover half of the interest, maintenance, and constructions costs arising during the second through fourth years of a serious regulatory delay resulting from a post-construction hearing. Utilities ordering new reactors before Dec. 31, 2008 would not have to pay an insurance premium, Bodman said. Those ordering reactors after 2008 would be charged a premium of 10%. The nuclear industry will continue to seek incentives, NEI President/CEO Frank "Skip" Bowman told Platts after Bodman's speech. ------------