Platts - Friday, July 22, 2005 http://www.platts.com ------------ Nuclear-grade graphite licensing to be changed Washington (Platts)--21Jul2005 Exports of nuclear-grade graphite for non-nuclear uses now will be licensed by the Department of Commerce rather than the NRC, according to notices by the two agencies in today's Federal Register. NRC said the purpose of the change is to remove from NRC export licensing jurisdiction nuclear materials that are not of significance from a nuclear proliferation perspective. NRC said its licensing experience has been that most nuclear-grade graphite is exported only for non-nuclear end use in the manufacture of commercial and industrial items. The change is effective immediately. This story was originally published in Nuclear News Flashes http://www.nuclearnews.platts.com. ------------ Senate approves loan guarantee to China for new reactors Washington (Platts)--21Jul2005 The U.S. Export-Import Bank can provide a loan guarantee to China for new nuclear power plants, under the fiscal 2006 Foreign Operations appropriations bill the Senate passed 98-1 yesterday. Approval of the funding bill came a day after a floor amendment to bar the Ex-IM Bank from making such a loan guarantee failed in a 37-62 vote. The amendment reflected a prohibition in the House-passed version of the bill. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), an amendment co-sponsor, unsuccessfully argued July 19 that such a loan guarantee would benefit the British government, which owns Westinghouse parent British Nuclear Fuels plc, and would create more jobs overseas. Differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill will be settled in a House-Senate conference committee, which has not yet been scheduled. ------------ Proposed NRC rule will track sealed sources Washington (Platts)--20Jul2005 A national tracking system for certain radioactive materials in sealed sources would be implemented under a proposed NRC rule. Licensees would have to report information about the manufacture, transfer, receipt or disposal of the sources of interest to an automated National Source Tracking System. Each licensee would also have to provide its initial inventory of trackable sources, and manufacturers would have to assign a unique serial number to each source of interest. Further details will be published soon in a Federal Register notice, NRC said today. US retail power sales fall in May, but prices rise 3.7%: EIA Washington (Platts)--20Jul2005 US retail electricity sales fell 3.5% in May compared with the same period of 2004 on mild weather across much of the country, the Energy Information Administration said Wednesday in its flash estimate of Electric Power Data. Cooling-degree days for May 2005 were 35% lower than in May 2004, the agency said. For the first five months of 2005, retail sales were nearly unchanged from the same period last year, up only 0.1%, consistent with weather patterns. Average retail prices continue to run ahead of last year, up 3.7%, apparently because of higher fuel prices, EIA said. The agency added that the 3.5% drop in May sales was closely matched by a 3.1% decline in generation. Incremental generating fuels, natural gas and oil, experienced the largest drop, 9.6% and 37.2% respectively, while baseload coal generation fell 1.6% and nuclear generation was 3.2% lower than the year-ago period. Hydroelectric power, the agency said, continued to rebound, rising 12.1% from May 2004 and 5.3% in the first five months of the year. EIA said a review of Nuclear Regulatory Commission daily plant status report data showed that capacity lost to outages or derates in May 2005 was about 2,000 MW, or 16%, higher than the same period of last year. By the end of the month, however, the gap in daily megawatts lost between May 2005 and May 2004 had closed, EIA said. The agency said that preliminary data from June shows slightly less capacity lost than in 2004, suggesting that nuclear output may rebound in the June generation data. EIA also said the decline in coal generation contributed to utility rebuilding of stocks, which grew nearly 3% in May. The increase in stocks, however, was not uniform and problems with rail lines leading out of the Powder River Basin led to a 1.2-mil ton decrease in sub-bituminous stocks in May from April. For more retail power news, take a trial to Platts Electric Power Daily at http://electricpowerdaily.platts.com. ------------ PSEG shareholders approve merger with Exelon Washington (Platts)--19Jul2005 Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) shareholders approved the company's merger with Exelon at today's annual meeting. PSEG said in a press release that 97% of votes cast were in favor of the merger. Exelon shareholders will vote on the merger July 22. The companies have said they hope to complete the merger, which must still be approved by several federal and state regulators, in the first half of 2006. ------------ US energy bill conferees agree on nuclear, efficiency provisions Washington (Platts)--19Jul2005 In their first votes on a final energy bill, House and Senate negotiators Tuesday approved a number of energy efficiency and nuclear energy proposals but delayed a decision on several others. The 65-member conference committee voted to establish a host of new energy efficiency standards for appliances and commercial equipment; force the Dept of Energy to notify Congress when it misses deadlines for new or revised conservation standards; and require DOE to launch an energy education campaign. Still pending are proposals in the bill that would extend daylight-savings time by two months and require the administrtion to develop proposals that would cut US oil demand by 1-mil b/d by 2015. The White House opposes both provisions. The daylight-savings time proposal is likely to be tweaked and remain in the bill. The oil-savings directive is included in the Senate version of the bill, but not the House version. The Bush administration says it would "effectively require a rapid, near-term increase" in federal fuel economy standards. Debate on the nuclear title was continuing late Tuesday afternoon, but the conference accepted an amendment from Rep Edward Markey (D-Massachusetts) aimed at tightening security at nuclear plants. The proposal would require security tests at each of the nation's 103 nuclear plants every three years and would direct the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to develop a new "design basis threat," describing potential sabotage that nuclear utilities are required to protect against. The amendment also would require a federal security coordinator in each NRC region. The conference, chaired by Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, plans to complete the nuclear energy section, along with coal, alternative vehicles and fuels, and hydrogen Tuesday night, then resume debate on electricity and more controversial titles Thursday. Conference leaders are seeking to get the final bill enacted and to President Bush by Aug 1, when Congress begins a five-week recess. For more news on the energy bill, take a trial to Platts Inside Energy at http://insideenergy.platts.com. ------------ Exelon, PSEG merger can meet New Jersey regulatory standards: CEO New York (Platts)--19Jul2005 The proposed merger of Exelon and Public Service Enterprise Group can meet the "public benefits" standard of New Jersey regulators, PSEG CEO James Ferland said Tuesday. During a press conference preceding the company's annual meeting, Ferland said Exelon's nuclear operating team can raise the output of PSEG's plants by 7-8%, displacing more expensive gas-fired power. The companies also expect annual "synergy" savings of $400- to $500-mil, of which about $38-mil would flow to customers of New Jersey utility Public Service Electric & Gas. PSE&G also would avoid investing "tens of millions of dollars" in a needed new billing system by adopting Exelon's system, Ferland added. The stronger balance sheet would cut financing costs, he added, and the many PSEG shareholders in New Jersey already have seen the value of their stock rise. Ferland said fewer than 1,000 employees would lose their jobs. The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission already has approved the merger and the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission is reviewing the deal. For more merger news, take a trial to Platts LNG Daily at http://lngdaily.platts.com. ------------ Conferees agree on nuclear section of energy bill Washington (Platts)--18Jul2005 The nuclear section of the energy bill was among the first sections that House and Senate negotiators were able to reach agreement on. A Senate aide called it "one of the easier" issues in the legislation because the provisions were considered non-controversial. The section, if adopted as written, would renew the Price-Anderson Act an additional 20 years, and authorize $1.25-billion over the next 10 years for research and construction of an advanced nuclear cogeneration reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory. It would also further enhance the security of nuclear facilities through a package of measures designed to better arm guards, tighten background checks for plant employees, and increase criminal sanctions for an attack on nuclear or fuel facilities. Funding authorization for nuclear energy research and development programs and establishing loan guarantees or other incentives for new construction would be contained in a separate tax section, which has not yet been completed. ------------ US congressional negotiators reach deal on parts of energy bill Washington (Platts)--18Jul2005 US congressional negotiators working on a compromise energy bill have tentatively agreed to authorize nearly $5-bil in spending over the next decade for clean coal research and development, provide more than $3-bil for hydrogen and fuel cell projects at the Dept of Energy and direct DOE to use a portion of its budget to commercialize more technology. The language is part of seven non-controversial sections of the bill that conference committee leaders hope win approval at a meeting Tuesday. The chief negotiator, Rep Joe Barton (Republican-Texas), has set meetings Tuesday and Thursday in hopes of completing the bill by month's end, as President Bush has requested. The consensus coal section would authorize $1.8-bil for research between fiscal years 2006 and 2014. It also would include a House-backed proposal that would give DOE authority to pay generators to install pollution controls and retrofit old plants to cut pollution. The House-passed bill would have authorized $3-bil for the program by fiscal 2013. The coal section includes language supporting gasification technology and orders DOE to provide an $80-mil loan to help build a plant in Healy, Alaska. For hydrogen, the compromise would provide $1.8-bil for research, a Bush priority, and includes a $1.3-bil fuel cell demonstration program sought by the Senate. The efficiency title would extend Daylight Savings Time by two months; keep the energy savings performance contracts program on the books until 2016; and establish a host of new conservation standards. The language also would direct DOE to use 0.9% of its applied r&d budget for technology transfer; establish a program to commercialize flexible fuel and hybrid-electric vehicles; call for $1.25-bil for a next-generation nuclear plant in Idaho and extend Price-Anderson Act indemnification to utilities through 2025. It would order the Dept of Transportation to study the feasibility of boosting auto fuel economy significantly by model-year 2014. For more news about the energy bill, take a trial to Platts Inside Energy at http://insideenergy.platts.com. ------------