Platts - Monday, October 24, 2005 http://www.platts.com ------------ UK manufacturers urge govt to provide support for nuclear power London (Platts)--24Oct2005 The EEF, the trade body for UK manufacturers, has urged the government in a new report to start providing measures to support the development of new nuclear power plants. The government should "back replacement nuclear build as part of a balanced sustainable long-term energy strategy for the UK," it said. In a world of low gas and carbon prices, conventional gas is substantially more competitive than any other energy source, but in a high gas and carbon scenario, nuclear power could be the most competitive form of energy supply, the EEF said. The government should address planning, licensing and liabilities issues that will make a substantial difference to the rate of return required by investors in nuclear power, the EEF says. It must make a decision on the disposal of radioactive waste and it should exempt nuclear from the climate change levy, given that it emits no carbon. And it should replace the renewables obligation--which compels suppliers to source a set percentage of their electricity from renewables--with a zero carbon obligation in 2015. That would compel suppliers to source a percentage of electricity from renewables or nuclear. "Business values the benefits of a liberalized energy market and would strongly oppose the government underwriting the nuclear industry," said Martin Temple, the head of the EEF. "However, in current circumstances the market will provide little other than new gas plants which will not provide us with a secure energy supply or deliver lower emissions." For similar nuclear stories, request a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/ ------------ SPD govt group mum on nuclear talks in coalition govt Freiburg (Platts)--21Oct2005 The parliamentary faction of Germany's Social Democrats, whose SPD party is in coalition talks with the Christian Democrats under new chancellor Angela Merkel, said Friday that talks were still ongoing on the fate of nuclear power in the country. A spokeswoman for the faction declined to comment on whether the party would try to force its new partner to accept the so-called 'nuclear consensus' plan set in motion by the SPD-Green party government several years ago that aims to decommission reactors by 2021. In the newly-forming "grand coalition" government, the SPD has nominated the environment minister. Their choice, Sigmar Gabriel--former minister president of the state of Lower Saxony and a member of the SPD--is known to support the decommissioning plan. Before becoming chancellor, Merkel pledged to extend the running time of nuclear plants by at least eight years. For more information, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://nucweek.platts.com. ------------ NRC sends Vermont Yankee's draft SER to Entergy for review Washington (Platts)--21Oct2005 NRC staff met a milestone today in Vermont Yankee's uprate review by sending to Entergy its draft safety evaluation report (SER). The staff was able to complete this key task after Entergy agreed in writing Oct. 17 to several license conditions. The draft SER will not be made public until Entergy has reviewed the material for any proprietary information and NRC staff agrees to those redactions. Raymond Shadis, staff technical adviser for the citizens group New England Coalition, asserted that the public would have little time to review the document before a Nov. 15 Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards subcommittee meeting. But an NRC Region I spokesman said much of the supporting information for the draft SER, including the staff's "requests for additional information" and Entergy's responses to the staff's questions, are publicly available. The staff projects completing its review of the application, which was submitted in September 2003, by Feb. 24. ------------ Uprates okayed for Ringhals-1 and -3, relicensing for unit 2 Stockholm (Platts)--20Oct2005 The Swedish government approved higher power operation for Ringhals-1 and -3 today, as well as relicensing of Ringhals-2. Ringhals management plans to uprate the first and third reactors by about 290 megawatts combined. Ringhals-1 is rated at 865 MW and unit 3 at 968 MW. An environmental court reviewing Ringhals' environmental impact statement asked the government this spring to consider the uprates and the relicensing. The court said the issues were of such significance that, by law, the government should make the decision. The Swedish Greens and antinuclear groups said the decision was hypocritical in the face of the government's official phase-out policy. ------------ IAEA peer review missions to US, UK, Canada in sight Budapest (Platts)--20Oct2005 The IAEA discussed international peer reviews with top regulatory officials from the US, Canada and the UK last month, said the Vienna agency's Kenneth Brockman. However, a formal request for an IAEA International Regulatory Review Team (IRRT) mission to the US is "probably two years away," he said. Brockman, director of nuclear installations safety, said the three big nuclear countries had expressed "significant interest" in hosting the peer reviews but that they had decided to conduct formal self-assessments prior to an IRRT. In the case of the NRC, he said, that self-assessment will involve a "focus on IAEA safety standards" instead of the "topical" assessments that have been done in the past. The IAEA presented elements of an updated IRRT program to the three regulatory agencies at a seminar in Ottawa in the second week of September. Brockman said the three English-speaking countries are "discussing sharing resources" in doing their self-assessments. Another IAEA official described the talks as a kind of "package deal" with NRC, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and the UK Nuclear Installations Inspectorate. The IAEA now tries to tailor regulatory reviews to a given country's needs, "to modularize" them with "core components" that can be combined differently for different organizations, Brockman said. This approach had also been presented to the Russian nuclear regulatory agency last summer, he said. The Russians are now conducting a self-assessment, he said; they could request an IRRT after that. Brockman said he's "confident" that in the case of large, experienced regulatory organizations, the appropriate time to conduct an independent review is "after the corrective process" that follows self-assessment. The IRRT program provides advice and assistance to IAEA states to strengthen and enhance the effectiveness of their nuclear safety regulatory body. The missions are requested by national governments. There have been IRRT missions to more than 25 countries since 1992, and Brockman said demand for them is growing. He spoke to Nucleonics Week during a meeting of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) in Budapest Oct. 11. The IAEA has been asked to conduct IRRT missions in Germany and Spain, but the timing is still under discussion. A mission to France is scheduled for late 2006 or early 2007. Brockman said a new type of IRRT is being proposed for emerging countries planning major nuclear installations, "to make sure their regulatory apparatus is ready to do the task." Indonesia expressed interest in such a preoperational IRRT during last month's IAEA General Conference, he said. For more information, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://nucweek.platts.com. ------------ Entergy Nuclear expects higher third quarter results Washington (Platts)--19Oct2005 Entergy Nuclear's third quarter results are expected to be higher than the same period last year, parent company Entergy Corp. said today in a preliminary guidance statement. It attributed the expected results to fewer planned and unplanned outages and lower operation and maintenance (O&M) expenses. Part of the reason for the drop in O&M expenses was due to a refund from the Central Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact Commission. The money, plus interest, was returned under a settlement agreement because of services never rendered. The proceeds will be reflected as "interest income" in third quarter results, Entergy said. Overall, the company expects earnings to be about $1.64 per share for the quarter, compared to $1.22/share in third quarter 2004. Because of damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, Entergy says it cannot affirm its 2005 earnings guidance. ------------ GE Energy wins Entergy service contract Washington (Platts)--18Oct2005 Entergy Corp. awarded GE Energy a 10-year service agreement for its BWR fleet, GE Energy announced today. The value of the contract was not disclosed at Entergy's request, a GE Energy spokesman said. The service agreement is intended to help Entergy prepare for outages by supporting the utility's hardware and service needs. The vendor said it would maintain the nuclear instrumentation and neutron monitoring system electronics, provide engineering and technical support, and assist with diagnostic and calibration services. It also said it will help Entergy retain minimum inventory levels at its five BWRs--Grand Gulf, River Bend, FitzPatrick, Pilgrim, and Vermont Yankee. ------------ Sweden to decide on nuclear tax hike in 1-2 weeks: spokesman London (Platts)--18Oct2005 Sweden's Social Democrat-led government is likely to make a decision on the proposed hike of the country's nuclear tax for 2006 in the next fortnight, a spokesman for Svensk Energi, the Swedish energy industry's representative body, said Tuesday. The new budget, which proposes an 85% increase in nuclear tax, will bring in an additional SKr1.39-bil ($170-mil) next year, based on current installed capacity, bringing the expected total to around SKr3-bil, according to recent government estimates. The Swedish government was due to approve the proposal early October. "They have not taken the decision yet. Its a matter of one or two weeks," spokesman Kalle Karlsson said. The profit tax charged to hydro power producers will also increase sharply should the proposal go through. The property tax on hydro companies will increase from SKr750-mil this year to SKr2.75-bil in 2006. These will slice into windfall profits made by carbon-free power producers since the introduction of carbon emissions trading. Meanwhile carbon tax on heat production will be reduced to zero from January 2006. For more information, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://nucweek.platts.com. ------------