Platts - Tuesday, October 18, 2005 http://www.platts.com ------------ Shutdown Bruce units to restart in 2009-2010 Washington (Platts)--17Oct2005 Bruce-1 and -2 will be restarted and units 3 and 4 refurbished under a (Cdn)$4.25-billion (U.S.$3.60-billion), four-year project announced today. The Ontario government and Bruce Power partners reached a tentative agreement in March on the financial aspects of restarting Bruce-1 and -2, which have been out of service since 1997 and 1995, respectively. The parties announced the implementation agreement today. Under the agreement, a new Bruce Power partnership--which excludes Cameco Corp.--will receive $63 per megawatt-hour for electricity produced from all four Bruce A units (units 1-4). The contract is for 25 years. The first of the shutdown units, Bruce-2, is expected to be on line in 2009, followed by unit 1 in 2010, Bruce Power said. It said restart work would begin immediately upon closing of the agreement, which is subject to a favorable income tax ruling from the Canada Revenue Agency. It said it hoped to receive the ruling shortly. The new Bruce A Limited Partnership (BALP) will sublease the Bruce A units from Bruce Power. BALP partners TransCanada Corp. and public service pension fund BPC Generation Infrastructure Trust will each own a 47.4% interest. Two unions at the Bruce site will own the remaining 5.2%. TransCanada, BPC and Cameco own 31.6% each in Bruce Power Limited Partnership, which leases the eight Bruce reactors from Ontario Power Generation. The unions own the remainder. ------------ Opening of debate on new French nuclear reactor cancelled Paris (Platts)--17Oct2005 The first public debate on Electricite de France's planned construction of a nuclear power plant at Flamanville, which was scheduled for October 19 at Cherbourg, has been cancelled Monday after environmental organizations and independent experts withdrew from the talks. The Special Commission for Public Debate said it cancelled this week's inaugural discussion on EDF's plans to construct a 1,600MW European pressurized reactor (EPR) unit, which would become the first in an anticipated series of new reactors. The organizations withdrew from participation in the EPR debate as well as from a parallel national debate on nuclear waste management policy after the government rejected last week their request to gain access to confidential documents that they viewed as essential to the understanding of the risks of nuclear power. Under French law, EDF cannot formally apply to build the new reactor until the EPR debate is completed. Up to now, it was expected that talks could last until early next spring. For more information, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://nucweek.platts.com. ------------ Cogema acquitted of uranium mining-related charges Paris (Platts)--14Oct2005 A French court acquitted Cogema today of criminal charges alleging water pollution and waste abandonment around the company's former uranium mining operations. The charges filed by the public prosecutor on the basis of a 1999 complaint from a local ecology group, Sources et Rivieres du Limousin, brought Cogema before a criminal court for the first time. The Limoges appeals court ruled in March 2004 in favor of the investigative judge who had charged Cogema with three counts involving its mining activities, but dismissed the third, "endangering human life." Cogema appealed that ruling but its appeal was rejected, and the case went to the Limoges Criminal Court, where oral arguments were heard June 24. The ecologist groups have asked the public prosecutor's office to appeal today's acquittal and said they would appeal in civil court in order to make Cogema remediate local lakes and waterways. Cogema insists it has always followed regulations and rejects a connection between a high content of natural radionuclides in the water bodies and its mining activities around Bessines between 1949 and 2001. ------------ Ontario, Bruce Power said close to deal to restart two nuke units Philadelphia (Platts)--14Oct2005 Ontario's provincial government and Bruce Power are expected as early as Monday to unveil a final agreement that will allow the company to refurbish and restart the last two 750-MW nuclear units at the Bruce station near Kincardine, a source said Friday. Government and Bruce Power spokesman, however, denied that a final agreement had been signed and said they are continuing the due-diligence process needed to move toward a final version of the tentative unit-restart deal they reached in March. Negotiations between the parties have focused on, among other things, the price that Bruce Power will be paid for the baseload power the two restarted units generate. Preparing the plants for restart of Bruce A units 1 and 2 is estimated to cost about C$2-bil (US$1.7-bil), and to take two years or more to complete. The units have been off-line since the late 1990s. Bruce Power leases the eight-unit Bruce station from Ontario Power Generation, and currently operates six units there. For more information, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://nucweek.platts.com. ------------ Byron-2 returns after 16-day refueling Washington (Platts)--13Oct2005 Byron-2 returned to service yesterday afternoon after a 16-day refueling and maintenance outage, Exelon Nuclear said today in a press release. The outage was the shortest refueling for a U.S. nuclear plant so far in 2005, the best in Exelon's nuclear fleet since 2003, and the second-best ever for the Byron station, Exelon Nuclear said. Byron-2, a 1,210-MW PWR, was at 30% power early this morning, according to NRC's daily status report. ------------ S&P says too early to suggest European nuclear power renaissance London (Platts)--13Oct2005 Large capital investments and long construction lead-times, along with political and operational risks, are restricting commercial interest in new European nuclear generation, ratings agency Standard & Poor's said in a report Wednesday. While nuclear power has helped in the recent rise in profits of some of Europe's largest electricity utilities, and political acceptance of nuclear power is increasing in some countries, S&P considers it too early to speak about a nuclear renaissance, it said. Today's deregulated and fast changing market environment is very different from the protected and government-supported environment that prevailed when nuclear investment was at its peak 25 years ago, S&P said. "We believe that significant investment in new nuclear generation in Europe would require fossil fuel prices, CO2 emissions reduction requirements, and market concentration to increase even further, Moreover, politicians would need to create more stable planning and operating conditions." Until that happens S&P said it expects that investments in new nuclear capacity will remain limited in most EU markets in the medium term, with the exception of France and Finland where new reactors are now being built. Instead, most investments in nuclear generation are likely to be directed at extending the lifetime and incrementally increasing the capacity of plants, which is considerably less costly and involves significantly fewer risks, S&P said. For more nuclear stories, request a free trial of Platts Nucleonics Week at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/ ------------ Duane Arnold minority owners say they don't plan to sell Washington (Platts)--12Oct2005 Central Iowa Power Cooperative (Cipco) and Corn Belt Power Cooperative, the minority owners of the 630-MW Duane Arnold nuclear power plant in Iowa, are saying they do not plan to sell their shares in the unit. Executives with the two companies stated their intention in letters to Interstate Power & Light Co. (IP&L), an Alliant Energy subsidiary that is selling its 70% share to a specially created subsidiary of FPL Energy. The Cipco and Corn Belt letters, which endorsed the planned IP&L sale, were part of a submittal IP&L made this week to the Iowa Utilities Board, which is reviewing the proposed deal. Cipco owns 20% of Duane Arnold; Corn Belt has a 10% share. Corn Belt's letter appears to be somewhat more hedged than Cipco's, saying that "as things currently stand, Corn Belt expects to remain an owner of the plant." But Corn Belt spokeswoman Kathy Taylor said Wednesay that the cooperative's board of directors had decided that selling its share was "not in the best interest" of its members. Dan Horner, daniel_horner@platts.com For more information, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://nucweek.platts.com. ------------ McGaffigan returns as NRC commissioner Washington (Platts)--12Oct2005 Edward McGaffigan was sworn in this afternoon as an NRC commissioner by Chairman Nils Diaz, bringing the commission back to its full strength of five members. McGaffigan's nomination cleared the Senate Oct. 7, and the White House signed the paperwork this morning. His third-term reappointment is a first in the agency's history. ------------