Platts - Friday, December 30, 2005 http://www.platts.com ------------ PacifiCorp says US NRC OKs acquisition by MidAmerican Energy Washington (Platts)--29Dec2005 Portland, Oregon-based PacifiCorp said the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Thursday issued an order formally approving the indirect transfer of control of certain remaining nuclear licenses that will occur when MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co completes its acquisition of the utility. PacifiCorp said NRC approval of the acquisition is required because PacifiCorp owns a 2.5% share of the Trojan Nuclear Plant in Oregon. The plant has not operated for several years, and is in the process of being decommissioned. For more information, take a trial to Platts Electricity Alert at http://electricityalert.platts.com. ------------ GE awarded contract for Laguna Verde uprate Washington (Platts)--29Dec2005 GE Energy will work on a project to uprate Mexico's Laguna Verde, the company announced today. GE Energy said plant operator Comision Federal de Electricidad awarded it a contract to provide safety and licensing evaluations required to support plans to uprate the units by as much as 100 megawatts each. The Laguna Verde-1 and -2 BWRs are now rated at 695 MW each, GE Energy said. The uprates are to be implemented in 2009 and 2010. The contract value was not disclosed. ------------ Construction of Pakistan's Chashma-2 is begun early Washington (Platts)--28Dec2005 First concrete was poured on Dec 28 for Pakistan's Chashma-2, two months ahead of schedule, with top Chinese and Pakistani officials present. Chinese industry built the 300-MW Chashma-1 and the contract for the second unit, concluded in May 2004, calls for project completion in 2011 at an estimated cost of $850-mil. Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Pervez Butt said at today's ceremony that his country plans to have 8,800 nuclear megawatts installed by 2030 and is investigating sites along the Indus River and the coast. He called for "free and unhindered cooperation between all countries" in developing nuclear power. Sun Qin, chairman of the China Atomic Energy Authority, said China has taken note of Pakistan's ambitious plan and would continue cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said Pakistan has established controls on nuclear materials and know-how, and needs plants for economic development. For more information, take a trial to Nuclear News Flashes at http://www.nuclearnews.platts.com. ------------ San Onofre-2 readies for 84-day outage Washington (Platts)--28Dec2005 San Onofre-2 is coasting down for a refueling and maintenance outage slated to start Jan. 3, a Southern California Edison Co. spokesman said today. The 1,127-MW PWR is expected to be off line about 84 days while crews replace some pressurized heaters, he said. The unit was at 92% capacity this morning, according to NRC's plant status report. ------------ US FERC approves NRG's $8.3-bil acquisition of Texas Genco Washington (Platts)--28Dec2005 NRG Energy's planned acquisition of Texas Genco, one of the largest wholesale generators in the US, moved a step closer to completion with the Federal Energy Regulaory Commission's approval of the deal on Tuesday. NRG said the $8.3-bil transaction remains subject to approval from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, but it expects to close the deal during the first quarter of 2006. Texas Genco, which owns about 11,000 MW in generation capacity, is owned by a consortium of four companies--the Blackstone Group, Hellman & Friedman, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Texas Pacific Group. The group paid CenterPoint Energy $3.65-bil for Texas Genco in 2004. In announcing the acquisition in October of this year, NRG said it would pay $5.8-bil in cash and stock, plus the assumption of $2.5-bil in debt. In its order, FERC said the acquisition is in the public interest, subject to a few conditions, which include notification to FERC within 10 days of closing on the final allocations of NRG's common stock. For more information, take a trial to Platts Electricity Alert at http://electricityalert.platts.com. ------------ DOE awards cleanup contract for Paducah Washington (Platts)--27Dec2005 DOE has awarded Paducah Remediation Services LLC a $191.6-million contract to perform environmental remediation and waste management work at the department's Paducah, Ky. gaseous diffusion plant. Paducah Remediation is a joint venture between small business partner Portage Environmental Inc. and Shaw Environmental Inc., a subsidiary of the Shaw Group Inc. The contract, announced today, runs through Sept. 30, 2009. Paducah Remediation will take over from Bechtel Jacobs Co. LLC, whose contract with DOE expires April 23, 2006. ------------