Platts - Thursday, December 15, 2005 http://www.platts.com ------------ California PUC approves $782-mil cap for San Onofre nuke project San Francisco (Platts)--15Dec2005 The California Public Utilities Commission Thursday agreed to increase to $782-mil from $680-mil a cost cap for a crucial upgrade for Southern California Edison's 2,150-MW San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. PUC President Peevey earlier this month proposed eliminating the cap after SoCal Ed said it could not proceed under a proposed $680-mil cost ceiling for new steam generators. But Peevey said he agreed to a 15% increase in the cap after Commissioner John Bohn said a similar project for Pacific Gas & Electric's nuclear plant was conducted under a cost cap. "I'm always uneasy with a blank check approach," said Bohn. If steam generator costs exceed $680-mil, Bohn said SoCal Ed would need to show that those expenses could "not be reasonably foreseen." SoCal Ed has argued that without new steam generators, the facility will likely have to shut down in 2009. A cost cap was not placed on operation and maintenance costs and capital additions. For more information, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://nucweek.platts.com. ------------ Universities to get $12-million for nuclear research Washington (Platts)--15Dec2005 three years to U.S. universities. The awards allow students and professors to participate in the department's advanced nuclear energy research and development programs, DOE said today. Work on the research and development projects that received awards will be conducted at 17 universities in 16 states, DOE said. The universities are Massachusetts Institute of Technology, North Carolina State University, Purdue University, University of California-Berkeley, University of Florida, University of Idaho, University of Michigan, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, University of New Mexico, University of Tennessee, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Pennsylvania State University, University of California-Los Angeles, Georgia Tech Research Corp., University of Missouri-Rolla, and University of South Carolina. ------------ Nuclear trade group names top Domenici aide as vice president Washington (Platts)--15Dec2005 Alex Flint, the staff director for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and a key aide in the development of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, has been named senior vice president for governmental affairs at the Nuclear Energy Institute in Washington. NEI, the trade group for the nuclear energy industry, said Thursday Flint will join it by Apr 30, 2006. His appointment is subject to formal approval by the institute's executive committee, which is scheduled to meet Feb 1. Flint is a long-time advisor to the chairman of the energy committee, Sen Pete Domenici (Republican-New Mexico). He has been the energy committee's staff director since 2003 and was clerk for the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on energy and water development, also chaired by Domenici, from 1996 to 2000. Previously, he was a legislative assistant to the senator. "Senator Domenici has led the rejuvenation of nuclear energy in the policymaker community, and Alex has played a leading role in developing a bold initiative for the future of nuclear energy in America," NEI President and CEO Frank "Skip" Bowman said. Flint succeeds John Kane, who announced his retirement earlier in 2005. For more information, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://nucweek.platts.com. ------------ IAEA poll finds support for existing reactors, not new ones Washington (Platts)--14Dec2005 Most people support existing nuclear plants but not new construction, according to an 18-nation opinion survey sponsored by the IAEA and released today. Conducted by Globescan Inc., the survey found that 62% of about 18,000 people surveyed "believe that existing nuclear reactors should continue to be used," but 59% "do not favor new nuclear plants being built," IAEA said today in a press release. Public attitudes toward the IAEA were also surveyed. A report on the survey is on IAEA's Web site at http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/PressReleases/2005/prn200516.html. ------------ US Senate bill would require at-reactor nuclear waste storage Washington (Platts)--14Dec2005 Nevada's two US senators--Democratic Leader Harry Reid and Republican John Ensign Wednesday introduced legislation that would require the Dept of Energy to take title to nuclear waste accumulating at nuclear power reactors around the US and store it indefinitely in casks at those sites. Reid and Ensign plan to promote the bill when the second session of the 109th Congress convenes in January, a Reid spokeswoman said. Utah Republican Sens Orrin Hatch and Robert Bennett co-sponsored the bill. The measure would require contractors hired by the utilities, at DOE's expense, to transfer spent fuel from storage pools into casks approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The transfer would have to occur within six years of the bill's enactment or six years of the waste's existence, whichever occurs first. The casks would be kept at the reactor sites, with DOE responsible for maintaining and monitoring the storage facilities. "The Yucca Mountain project is never going to open. It is time we put the safety of this country first and approach the storage of nuclear waste in a way that is productive and realistic," Reid said in a statement. "Storing nuclear waste on-site is the safest, most reasonable and most effective way of allowing nuclear power companies to continue operating while keeping the health and safety of Americans as our top priority," he added. In the House, Rep Jim Matheson (Democrat-Utah) planned to introduce an identical bill Wednesday, his spokeswoman said. "If Yucca Mountain's not the solution, he's hopeful people are starting to recognize this is the best way to go," she said of his bill. For more information, take a trial to Platts Inside Energy at http://insideenergy.platts.com. ------------ Peak dose at Yucca Mt. long before 1-million years, NRC says Washington DC (Platts)--13Dec2005 The peak radiation dose from a repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev. could occur 125,000 to 150,000 years after the underground disposal facility is closed, Tim McCartin of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission said today. McCartin, who was briefing the Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste on NRC's proposed repository licensing regulation, acknowledged it would make sense for the regulation to contain a 200,000-year regulatory period but added that analyses would have to go out 1-million years in order to be certain a higher release would not occur later. The NRC proposal, like the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed radiation protection standard it reflects, has a regulatory period of 1-million years. Most waste packages would fail 60,000 to 80,000 years after being emplaced in Yucca Mountain, McCartin said. ------------