Platts - Monday, December 05, 2005 http://www.platts.com ------------ Finnish government shies away from nuclear in new energy plan London (Platts)--5Dec2005 The Finnish government took no position on new nuclear power in the energy strategy it approved Nov 24. The strategy, which updates an earlier plan from 2001, said all types of generation are possible. However, it doesn't advocate nuclear and it specifically proposes more biofuel and renewables. The strategy is intended to help Finland meet its Kyoto protocol targets from 2008-2012 and beyond. The energy strategy was debated in the Eduskunta (parliament) for the first time on Nov. 30 and will be discussed in committee for several months before a vote. If parliament approves the strategy, the government-proposed funding levels in the plan will be used to develop renewables and to subsidize peat and buy emission rights. Speaking at an energy seminar shortly before the government's decision was announced, Finance Minister Eero Heinaeluoma -- one of the strategy's architects -- signaled his willingness to consider more nuclear power. He said that "Finland has to simultaneously respond to international emission reduction targets, which will probably grow even stricter, and produce more electricity with fewer emissions." Heinaeluoma's support signals that the government could make a decision in principle for a sixth nuclear unit and send the proposal to the parliament. Heinaeluoma said that Finland will need about 2,400 MW more of installed capacity by 2020 in addition to the 1,600-MW Olkiluoto-3 EPR now under construction. It is scheduled to go on line in 2009. Conflicts over the direction of the strategy and costs for various options delayed its completion twice during the year by the three-person ministerial group in charge of developing it. Heinaeluoma was one of the three. Sources said that Trade & Industry Minister Mauri Pekkarinen and Environment Minister Jan-Erik Enestam were especially at odds over the use of more nuclear versus subsidies for continued use and further development of peat. Enestam opposed Olkiluoto-3. But he said publicly mid-year that more nuclear could help Finland meet its emission reduction targets under the Kyoto protocol. He added that, with the decision to build Olkiluoto-3, Finland had chosen a nuclear path. Finland has four reactors operating. The energy strategy calls for the government to buy emission allowances for 10-million tons of carbon dioxide to offset industry's and power producers' costs for buying them, from 2008-2012. Without the government intervention, Finland would exceed its Kyoto target by about 15%, according to the Trade & Industry Ministry. The strategy also calls for 25% more renewable energy consumption by 2015 and for an additional 40% more by 2025. In addition, the government wants to cut electricity taxes by 50% in 2008, in order "to help ensure that jobs stay in Finland," the ministry said. In a recent survey of presidential candidates, current President Tarja Halonen said that Finland needs diversified energy production, rather than a sixth nuclear reactor to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Halonen is the frontrunner in a field of seven candidates and is likely to be re-elected when Finns vote in January. But her strongest opponent, former finance minister Sauli Niinistoe, said that a sixth unit is needed to help Finland reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Although the Finnish president no longer has direct power, the president's opinion traditionally carries considerable weight. This story was originally published in Platts Nucleonics Week. Request a free trial at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/ ------------ Yucca Mountain application appears unlikely to go to NRC in FY-06 Washington (Platts)--2Dec2005 The Dept of Energy's defense of a repository license application is not a spending priority for the civilian nuclear waste program in fiscal-year 2006, but the preparation of an application will be, a move that suggests the department will not send an application to NRC this fiscal year, which ends Sept 30, 2006. In response to questions from Platts, DOE spokesman Allen Benson listed priorities for the program's $450-mil budget as "full investments in science and technology, full investments in preparing a license application [for a repository with minimal fuel handling], and full investments in improving safety infrastructure." The allocation for FY-06, which began Oct 1, is 30% below the administration's budget request and 20% below its FY-05 level. "Clearly, we're not where we wanted to be...especially in terms of not being in a license-defense mode," Benson said. The repository planned for Yucca Mountain, Nevada, will be the disposal facility for thousands of metric tons of utility spent nuclear fuel. Separately, DOE told an NRC licensing board in a Dec 1 status report that contractor Bechtel SAIC Co has not yet completed a report detailing program changes needed to develop and implement a new cradle-to-grave canister system that would minimize repository fuel handling requirements. It added that DOE was unlikely to complete its review of that report, once received, during first quarter of calendar year 2006. "Any time thereafter required to revise the license application will depend on the nature and extent of the modifications," the report stated. ---Elaine Hiruo, elaine_hiruo@platts.com For more information, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://nucweek.platts.com. http://www.platts.com/Nuclear/News/6142728.xml?S=n ------------ Lithuania, Estonia to build new Ignalina unit Vilnius (Platts)--2Dec2005 Lithuania and Estonia plan to build a new reactor at the Ignalina plant, officials from both countries said today, announcing that a joint protocol of intent would be signed shortly. Eesti Energia board chairman Sandor Liive was in Vilnius to discuss technical details of Estonia's participation in the project. Poland and Latvia are also expected to participate. Officials said a new unit could be on line in eight to nine years, and studies will be done as soon as possible to determine the best design and amount of installed capacity. ------------ UT-Battelle to continue managing Oak Ridge Washington (Platts)--1Dec2005 UT-Battelle LLC will manage Oak Ridge National Laboratory for five more years under a $6.3-billion extension to its current contract, DOE said today. The contract extension runs through March 2010. UT-Battelle, formed in 1999 specifically to bid for the Oak Ridge lab management contract, is comprised of the University of Tennessee (UT) and Battelle Memorial Institute. ------------ Majority of Swedes oppose shutting more nuclear units early Stockholm (Platts)--30Nov2005 Sixty-five percent of Swedes oppose early shutdown of more reactors in Sweden, according to a survey released yesterday. The survey was conducted for KSU, the nuclear industry's joint company for specialized training of plant staff. The survey also showed that 24% of the respondents want to replace Sweden's 10 operating reactors when they reached the end of their technical lifetimes and 15% want to build additional units. The Swedish government is officially committed to phasing out nuclear power and ordered Barsebaeck-1 shut in 1999 and Barsebaeck-2 shut in May of this year. ------------ Vermont Yankee uprate review moves forward at NRC, not state Washington (Platts)--30Nov2005 The NRC review of Entergy Nuclear's 20% uprate request for its Vermont Yankee station is progressing on schedule as it enters the final stretch, but a Vermont nuclear advisory panel raised fresh objections to the project last week. The NRC's technical review, which began in February 2004, got back on track in mid-October after Entergy accepted several NRC staff-proposed license conditions and agreed to one regulatory commitment. The staff said the conditions/commitment would address analysis and performance concerns pertaining to the unit's steam dryer. Entergy is seeking to increase the power output of the plant from 1,593 megawatts (thermal) to 1,912 MW(t), a boost of about 110 MW electric. Four days after Entergy's Oct. 17 letter agreeing to the licensing conditions and commitment, the NRC staff submitted its draft safety evaluation report (SER) to the agency's Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS). It then published its draft environmental assessment (EA) in the Federal Register on Nov. 9. The ACRS Power Uprates Subcommittee met Nov. 15 and 16 in Vermont to review the containment overpressure issue and staff's engineering inspection and convened again Nov. 29 and 30 at NRC headquarters to discuss the draft SER. Most of the Nov. 29 meeting was closed to the public. Last week, the Vermont State Nuclear Advisory Panel (V-SNAP), a state-mandated panel established to advise on nuclear issues, approved in a 4-3 vote a resolution recommending state regulators reject the uprate request or else attach certain financial conditions, according to reports in local newspapers. V-SNAP is chaired by the Vermont Department of Public Service (DPS) commissioner, with four other appointees from state agencies and the legislature and two members of the public also serving. The members voting for the Nov. 22 resolution wanted more of the potential profits from the uprate to benefit the state. DPS Commissioner David O'Brien was among the three who voted against the resolution. DPS is the state's public advocacy agency on utility regulatory issues. Vermont Yankee spokesman Rob Williams dismissed the advisory panel's vote as coming late in the process. He said the PSB gave conditional approval of the uprate 20 months ago. "The issue [the panel members] are considering are already decided," Williams said. "It's just another example of V-SNAP second-guessing the Public Service Board (PSB)." The PSB, the state's regulatory agency, in March 2004 approved the power uprate on the condition that NRC meet its request to conduct an independent engineering assessment. The NRC staff issued a report on its findings for the engineering inspection Dec. 2, 2004. Williams said the PSB had asked for opinions on whether the NRC report met the criteria for its request. "We believe it fully met the intent, and went beyond," he said. The PSB has not yet ruled on the results of the report. Vermont regulators do not have regulatory authority over nuclear safety issues; they can only consider safety issues in the context of making a determination of plant reliability. The full ACRS is set to review the staff's draft SER at a Dec. 7 meeting, and the review schedule tentatively calls for the ACRS to issue a recommendation by Dec. 15. The final EA is expected to be completed by Feb. 7 and the final SER is to be issued by Feb. 24. An NRC Atomic Safety & Licensing Board (ASLB) that is conducting an adjudicatory hearing on a challenge to the uprate will not have closed the proceeding by late February. The ASLB's initial schedule, issued early this year, called for testimony and rebuttal testimony to be filed in the weeks after the final SER is issued. A date for oral arguments has not yet been set, and the ASLB's decision is anticipated 30 days after the close of the hearing. For more information, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://nucweek.platts.com. ------------ Equity firm buys US nuclear components company Washington (Platts)--29Nov2005 A nuclear components fabricator, Carpenter Special Products Corp. (CSPC), was acquired by WHI Capital Partners, the Chicago-based private equity firm announced today. WHI Capital paid $19.5-mil for CSPC, a company based outside of San Diego, Calif. that manufactures metal components and assemblies for nuclear power plants and aerospace applications, said a spokesman for WHI Capital. CSPC, which produces specialty alloy products and nuclear reactor tubing and fuel channel assemblies, has been renamed Veridiam Inc. The new company will continue to focus on its core nuclear power business and expand its medical devices business, WHI Capital said. Under the sales agreement, Veridiam will maintain a "supply relationship" with its former parent, Carpenter Technology Corp., "to ensure access to certain of Carpenter Technology's proprietary alloys." WHI Capital says it invests in profitable, mid-size companies with leading market positions and revenues of between $10- and $100-mil. ------------ NRC to fine AEP unit $60,000 for DC Cook reporting infractions Washington (Platts)--29Nov2005 The staff of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has proposed levying a $60,000 fine against AEP's Indiana Michigan Power Co unit for failing to provide complete and accurate information and meet reporting requirements for NRC-licensed operators at its DC Cook nuclear power plant near Bridgman, Michigan, the regulator said. The utility has until Dec 18 to pay the fine or to protest it. If the fine is protested and subsequently imposed by the NRC staff, the utility may request a hearing, NRC said. A DC Cook plant spokesman was not available immediately to say whether the fine would be paid or protested. Following the reporting infractions, Indiana Michigan Power Co has taken such corrective actions as developing guidance for the submission of reactor operator application forms, revising administrative procedures to discuss regulatory requirements with the medical review officer prior to performing the annual medical records review, and training operators on the requirements to report a change in medical condition, NRC noted. ---Keiron Greenhalgh, keiron_greenhalgh@platts.com For more information, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://nucweek.platts.com. ------------ Operator now says Columbia nuke won't have to cut power output Washington (Platts)--29Nov2005 The 1,157-MW Columbia nuclear generating station won't have to reduce its power output when a service water pump is replaced in December as Energy Northwest spokesman Brad Peck had told Platts. Peck said late Monday in a voicemail that this would not be necessary. The pump is one of two the reactor uses to circulate cooling water through the reactor's non-nuclear side. The change-out is scheduled for mid-December and is expected to take days to complete, according to Peck. Columbia, located in Richland, Washington, is a one-reactor station. For more information, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://nucweek.platts.com. ------------ UK to review energy policy with focus on nuclear power London (Platts)--29Nov2005 UK Prime Minister Tony Blair Tuesday said his government was embarking on a wide-ranging review of its energy policy, which would "specifically" look at whether to build more nuclear power plants. Energy minister Malcolm Wicks will lead the review and make a government policy statement in the early summer of 2006 which "will include specifically the issue of whether we facilitate the development of a new generation of nuclear power stations," Blair told business leaders in London Tuesday. The UK currently has some 23 nuclear reactors generating one fifth of its electricity. "By around 2020 the UK is likely to have seen the decommissioning of coal and nuclear plants that together generate over 30% of Britain's current electricity supply," Blair said. "Some of this will be replaced by renewables, but not all of it can." Although he said the "future is clean energy," Blair is believed to favor new nuclear plants as an option that will help guarantee security of supply and also enable the UK to meet its pledged cut in greenhouse gas emissions. A formal consultation period for the energy review is expected to start in early 2006, said the Department of Trade and Industry, which is responsible for energy policy. The review will be looking to ensure the UK is on track to cut its carbon dioxide emissions by about 60% by 2050, with "real progress by 2020," the DTI said. "The review will consider all options including the role of current generating technologies (e.g. renewables, coal, gas and nuclear power) and new and emerging technologies (e.g. Carbon Capture and Storage)," the DTI said. Most new power plants built in the UK in recent years have been gas-fired, but the UK became a net importer of gas last year and could be 80% dependent on imported gas by 2015, according to national gas pipeline operator National Grid. GREENPEACE PROTEST Blair's speech was delayed by an hour as a result of a protest by environmental lobby group Greenpeace. Two Greenpeace protestors climbed into the roof of the conference hall in London, one displaying a banner which read "Nuclear: wrong option." In a statement issued after Blair's speech, Greenpeace UK director Stephen Tindale said the Prime Minister was "trying to launch a new nuclear age." "Nuclear power is not the answer to climate change--it's costly, dangerous and a terrorist target," he said. "The real solution to climate change and energy security is a mix of efficient, safe and clean energy technologies like wind, wave, and solar... Nuclear power is simply a dangerous red herring in this debate," he said. In response to the Greenpeace protest, Blair said what was needed was "a serious, open and democratic debate, not one conducted by protests or demonstrations to stop people having their freedom to express their views." The UK needs to build new plants to replace ageing coal and nuclear generation, but is becoming increasingly wary of becoming over-reliant on gas-fired generation. UK gas prices have soared in recent weeks, both for immediate supplies and deliveries through the rest of the winter, prompting fears of a possible shortage of supplies as domestic output continues to decline and the country becomes increasingly dependent on gas imports. GAS SUPPLY FEARS Blair said that if forecasts of a cold winter proved correct, large gas users could face supply problems. "If it is as cold as the Met office suggests it may be, our gas market will be tight. For our domestic gas customers and most businesses the National Grid is clear there would not be a problem. But for big gas users, (energy regulator) Ofgem, the National Grid, energy suppliers and the DTI have all been and will be working to make sure business is aware and ready," Blair said. Blair first announced that the government would carry out a new review of energy during a speech to the Labour party conference at Brighton in October. The review will be the first comprehensive look at energy policy since a white paper in early 2003. Blair also predicted that there would be an international agreement on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, with all major economies to be involved. "Climate change is producing a sense of urgency...I believe there will be a binding international agreement to succeed Kyoto when the Protocol expires in 2012 that will include all major economies," he said. For similar news stories, request a free trial to Power UK at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/ ------------