Platts - Thursday, September 15, 2005 http://www.platts.com ------------ Constellation pulls plant sites from NuStart process Washington (Platts)--15Sep2005 Constellation Energy, which has formed a business venture with French nuclear equipment vendor Areva to streamline the process for licensing and building new nuclear plants in the US, Thursday said it is pulling its Calvert Cliffs and Nine Mile Point plant sites out of the running for a combined operating permit-construction license application by the NuStart Energy consortium. Constellation was among one of the original founders of NuStart, which includes Exelon, Progress Energy, Duke Energy, FPL Group, Southern Company, General Electric, Westinghouse and the Tennessee Valley Authority. The consortium plans to announce later this month one site that will be paired with Westinghouse's AP1000 reactor design and another site with GE Energy's ESBWR. The new Constellation-Areva company, UniStar Nuclear, would facilitate joint ventures in individual projects. Officials with the two companies earlier Thursday said UniStar would provide a "business framework" for those projects, allowing companies to become part owners or receive power from a new plant without getting involved in the licensing, construction, or operation of the plant. The business plan calls for building a fleet of Areva's 1,600-MW EPR design, which will be marketed in the US as the US Evolutionary Power Reactor. For more information about NuStart, take a trial to Platts Inside NRC at http://insidenrc.platts.com ------------ Constellation, Areva join forces to build new US nuclear plants Washington (Platts)--15Sep2005 Constellation Energy and French nuclear equipment vendor Areva Inc Thursday said they have joined forces to create UniStar Nuclear, a joint venture designed to develop the first fleet of advanced nuclear power plants in the US in nearly 30 years. The companies said UniStar will offer a "business framework" that will enable the development of joint ventures with Constellation and other energy companies and interested parties. The joint ventures would license, build, own and operate the nuclear plants as part of a standardized fleet. UniStar will market a standard advanced design called the US Evolutionary Power Reactor, a 1,600-MW reactor designed by Areva, which is now working on obtaining a design certification from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The first of Areva's EPR is under construction in Finland and a second is expected to be built in France. Constellation said that under current plans it would operate the first fleet of four or more US EPRs. Constellation also said it would form joint ventures for each power plant. For more information, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://nucweek.platts.com. ------------ US Congress' focus on Katrina seen delaying 2006 spending bills Washington (Platts)--14Sep2005 Most of the US government, including the Dept of Energy, will continue to be funded at 2005 levels when the new fiscal year begins Oct 1 as Congress grapples with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Congressional and nuclear industry lobbyists this week called the use of continuing resolutions to keep the government running a certainty. One lobbyist said the CRs likely would be for two- to three-week intervals, noting that short CRs are seen as a way to keep pressure on lawmakers to act. A lengthy continuation of the FY-05 funding levels could hobble several Energy Dept programs, including the department's repository project at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, the lobbyist said. Money for DOE, US Army Corps of Engineers water projects, and a handful of independent agencies are contained in the same appropriations bill. Keven Cook, a senior staffer with the House Appropriations subcommittee that controls Energy Dept spending, however, said this week that he doubts the bill's water projects would move that legislation to the top of the congressional queue. Meanwhile, several sources noted that legislation deadling with the energy security problems raised by Hurricane Katrina likely would be a high priority. For more information, take a trial to Platts Nuclear Fuel at http://nuclearfuel.platts.com. ------------ Constellation, Areva to join to build US nuke plants: sources Washington (Platts)--14Sep2005 Baltimore-based Constellation Energy Group and French nuclear energy vendor Areva are expected to unveil Thursday a joint business venture aimed at building new nuclear power plants in the US. Potomac Communications, a public relations firm, Wednesday said two unidentified energy companies plan to announce what it called an "unprecedented" business plan to design build, license and operate new nuclear units. Industry sources told Platts that Constellation and Areva would partner in the venture, which will focus on bringing Areva's 1,600-MW advanced EPR reactor design to the US. The first EPR plant is under construction in Finland, and a second plant order is expected in France. Areva has yet to apply to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for design certification. The news release issued Wednesday said the companies would discuss "why now is the right time to be a leader in the rebirth of nuclear power in America." For more information, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://nucweek.platts.com. ------------ Antidumping duty reduced on LEU exported by Cogema-Eurodif Washington (Platts)--14Sep2005 The antidumping duty on low-enriched uranium (LEU) exported by Cogema-Eurodif to the U.S. in 2003-2004 has been reduced to 12.62%, the Department of Commerce said in a Federal Register notice today. The department's preliminary analysis, issued in March, had set the rate at 21.71% for LEU that Cogema sent to the U.S. between Feb. 1, 2003 and Jan. 31, 2004. The biggest reason for the change was the way the department calculated electricity costs, Cogema's lead attorney in the case, Stuart Rosen of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, told Platts today. Rosen said Cogema disagrees with the general approach the department used to determine the duties. In addition, he said, Cogema is sending a letter to the department objecting to what the company says are calculational--or "ministerial"--errors in the department's analysis. ------------ Entergy's Waterford-3 plant up to 68% capacity, US NRC reports Washington (Platts)--14Sep2005 Entergy's Waterford-3 nuclear plant is operating at 68% capacity after exiting an outage brought on by Hurricane Katrina, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday in its reactor status report. The 1,075-MW plant near New Orleans was shut down prior to Hurricane Katrina making landfall. Late last week Entergy received permission to restart the plant, after establishing that communications systems were available and evacuation routes were passable. Entergy's other nuclear plants in the Gulf Coast region, the 1,207-MW Grand Gulf plant near Vicksburg, Mississippi, and the 966-MW River Bend plant near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, are at 97% and 100% capacity respectively. For more information, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://nucweek.platts.com. ------------ Entergy's 829-MW Fitzpatrick plant is shut down, US NRC says Washington (Platts)--14Sep2005 Entergy Nuclear's Fitzpatrick generating unit is shut down, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday in its reactor status report. The 829-MW unit in Lycoming, New York, was at 100% capacity on Tuesday. Early Wednesday morning, however, a loss of power to the reactor feed pump controls created a low water level that triggered an automatic reactor scram, operators told the NRC in an event report. At about 2:15 am EDT, operators were in the process of transferring electrical loads to the alternate power supply when there was a loss of power, according to the report. The event is under investigation, Entergy told the NRC. The plant is in hot shutdown mode and it will remain in that mode pending the results of the investigation, the report said. For more information, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://nucweek.platts.com. ------------ BE to shut down two more units over bolt cracking concerns London (Platts)--13Sep2005 British Energy (BE) said it will keep the two Hartlepool AGRs off-line and will shut down both Heysham A units because of concerns about the potential for stress corrosion cracking of the primary "holding down" bolts. All four units are likely to be down for at least a month, BE said. The company said yesterday that it currently expects to lose around one terawatt of output while carrying out the work but much depends on how things develop. Hartlepool and Heysham A are of similar design and differ considerably from BE's other five AGR stations. BE first raised its concerns about potential stress corrosion cracking in May when some moisture was found on a bolt helping anchor one of Heysham A-2's eight boilers. Then, in June, a similar bolt was found to have "slight moisture" at Hartlepool-1. BE said this week that "testing has shown no evidence of cracking at Hartlepool or Heysham (A) to date." ------------ Germany, Switzerland to search jointly for final nuclear storage Freiburg (Platts)--13Sep2005 Germany's environment ministry has installed a commission to work with Switzerland on the latter's search for a final nuclear waste storage facility, the ministry said. The latest proposal foresees a location near the town of Benken, near the German border, as an option for a final storage facility. The rock formation there is sounder than elsewhere, say the Swiss. The commission is to work with the Swiss while representing German interests, and the minister will then represent Germany against Switzerland when it comes to the crunch in 2006. Everyone in Switzerland and neighboring Germany can comment on the proposal by Dec 12. A final storage facility should be in operation by the middle of this century. Germany itself has not found a final waste facility yet and is using intermediate storage facilities on the site of nuclear units until it can agree on where to store the waste for good. For more information, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://nucweek.platts.com. ------------