Platts - Wednesday, February 15, 2006 http://www.platts.com ------------ US to continue support for near-term new nuclear build: Bodman Washington (Platts)--14Feb2006 US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman on Monday said that while the Bush administration's Global Nuclear Energy Partnership eventually could trigger a wave of nuclear plant construction worldwide, he assured an industry audience that the department would continue to support industry efforts to build new nuclear plants in the US in the nearer term. The GNEP, which was unveiled last week in the administration's fiscal year 2007 budget, is designed, among other things, to expand US use of nuclear power, demonstrate more "proliferation resistant" reprocessing, minimize nuclear waste, develop "advanced burner" fast reactors, and establish reliable fuel supply and take-back services. The administration has requested $250-mil in 2007 for the program, which is expected to cost billions of dollars and take decades to complete. "GNEP will not interfere with our plans to see several new plants built in the US," Bodman told industry officials at a Platts conference in Washington. Through the plan, Bodman said, the country could avoid putting un-recycled nuclear waste in the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada. "The nuclear waste we dispose of still retains about 90% of its energy, a huge amount of our nuclear waste that we do in fact waste and would waste if we dispose of it in a repository," Bodman said. Bodman asked why the country would "bury" such waste "in a mountain, if there is a better way to deal with," saying "we do in fact think there is." For more information, take a trial to Nuclear News Flashes at http://www.nuclearnews.platts.com. ------------ AECL official: Canada to begin building new nuclear before U.S. Washington (Platts)--14Feb2006 Canada will start building a new nuclear unit before the U.S., predicted Patrick Tighe, vice president, Market & Business Development, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL). Tighe told the Platts' Nuclear Energy Conference in Washington, D.C. today that, with Ontario's commitment to shut its coal plants by 2009, Canada is facing an urgent power crunch. If AECL is to put new power on line by 2015, he said, "We have to start today," and AECL is urging action this year by the Ontario government. He said AECL has built every unit in the last 10 years, in South Korea, China, and Romania, within time and budget, offering its Candu on a turnkey or partial turnkey basis. "We take project delivery risks," he said, terming those risks "significant." He followed several speakers who said management and distribution of risks, including lenders' perceptions of the risk of construction cost overruns like those experienced in the U.S. in the 1980s, will determine financing costs for any new units built in the U.S. ------------ NEI wants nuclear waste fee to remain at current level Washington (Platts)--13Feb2006 The nuclear industry would like Congress to freeze the nuclear waste fee at its current level of 1 mill per kilowatt-hour of nuclear-generated electricity sold, Steve Kraft, the Nuclear Energy Institute's (NEI) director of waste management, said yesterday. Kraft's comment came in an address to the staff of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (Naruc) nuclear issues subcommittee as Naruc kicked off its winter meeting in Washington, D.C. The industry has reviewed its policies regarding the management of utility spent reactor fuel, Kraft said, adding that industry doesn't want to ever see the fee increased. Congress put the fee in place in 1983 to bankroll DOE's waste program. Industry also sees a need to develop advanced technologies so the nuclear fuel cycle can be closed when the technologies are mature enough that the economics and environmental benefits from their use can be realized, he said. However, Kraft also stressed that the development of advanced reprocessing technologies does not obviate the need for the repository DOE plans to build at Yucca Mountain, Nev. ------------ US NRC issues draft license for nuke waste storage site in Utah Washington (Platts)--13Feb2006 The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Monday issued a draft license to a utility consortium that plans to build and operate a spent nuclear fuel storage facility in Utah, an attorney for Private Fuel Storage said. The license was hand-delivered to company officials by William Brach, the director of NRC's Spent Fuel Project Office, the attorney added. The license will allow PFS to construct and operate a spent fuel dry cask storage facility at the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indian reservation in Tooele County, Utah. It would be the first such facility located at a non-reactor site. There is a seven-day comment period for PFS to review the terms of the license. If no revisions are required, a final license will be issued when the review period ends. Once the final license is issued and PFS gets commitments from utilities to store their spent nuclear fuel at the site, it can begin construction of the facility. ---Jenny Weil, jenny_weil@platts.com ------------ Detailed applications will ease new COL process: NRC official Washington (Platts)--13Feb2006 NRC's regulatory process for licensing new reactors will be predictable for companies that submit high-quality applications, NRC Chairman Nils Diaz said Monday. Addressing the nuclear industry's concern that the untested construction permit-operating license (COL) application review might prove to be protracted and unpredictable, Diaz said NRC has gained experience with other areas--design certifications and early site permits--of the new licensing regulations and will incorporate its safety and engineering knowledge from the past 25 years. The last uncanceled US nuclear plant order was placed in 1973, and the industry is gearing up for the next big wave of orders. In a keynote address at the Platts' nuclear conference in Washington, Diaz said that 11 potential COL applications have been announced publicly. He indicated the industry could take comfort from the agency's history of conducting "fair" and "efficient" hearings and asserted that projected schedules could be met if significant issues are resolved up front. But he also stressed that the industry would have to share responsibility in the process by preparing detailed and complete applications. Eventually, NRC might be able to review new plant licensing applications in about 24 months, Diaz said. He added the agency would first have to gain experience from the first few applications, and new applications would have to be standardized. Diaz said the agency is looking at ways to accelerate reviews, such as implementing a "design-centered" review approach, which would require the industry's commitment to standardization so that NRC could apply a single technical evaluation to multiple applications. NRC estimates review times will range from 27 to 60 months, depending on whether an applicant is referencing an early site permit or an approved certified reactor design. For more nucleonics news, request a free trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/ ------------ World's nuclear performance in 2005 close to 2004's London (Platts)--13Feb2006 The world's nuclear operators appear to have squeezed just a little more out of their plants in 2005 than in 2004, but with final figures nearly in, it's close enough to call it a draw. When British Energy reports its total output for the year later this month, it's expected to run about 60-million megawatt-hours (MWH), which would bring the total output from the world's 443 operating reactors to about 2.75-billion MWH. That figure includes, for the first time, all seven of China's operating units; adjusted for them, the 2004 world output was around 2.74-billion MWH. The world average capacity factor was 79.25% in 2005; it was 78.97% in 2004. U.S. operators came very close to their 2004 record, with gross output around 818-million MWH. The 2005 bottom line was 828-million MWH. Net output was about 786-million MWH; the 2004 mark was 789-million MWH. The Nuclear Energy Institute attributed the difference to more routine refueling outages falling within the calendar year, and said the average variable cost of producing a nuclear kilowatt-hour remained 1.68 cents. The most marked increase in output was in South Korea, where Ulchin-6 began commercial operation in April, but that 1,000-MW unit alone didn't account for the country's 16-million MWH increase in generation. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. Ltd. (KHNP) was in the process of shifting its units to 18-month refueling cycles. That and "our extremely low scram rate" meant that "last year we didn't have many units shut for refueling and maintenance outages," said Senior Vice President Hong Jang-hee. Those factors allowed the 20 Korean units not only to notch an average 94.97% capacity factor but to take the top five spots on the list of 50 best capacity factors for the year, led by Kori-4 at 104.85%?though those numbers may also reflect some outdated unit ratings (see below). The U.S. unit with the highest capacity factor was Constellation's Calvert Cliffs-1, a Combustion Engineering (CE)-design PWR, at 101.99%. Right behind were Exelon's Limerick-1, a GE BWR; Duke's Catawba-2, Progress Energy's Shearon-Harris-1, and the Tennessee Valley Authority's Sequoyah-1, all Westinghouse PWRs; Southern California Edison's San Onofre-3, a CE-design PWR; Dominion's North Anna-1, a Westinghouse PWR; Exelon's LaSalle-1, and Constellation's Nine Mile Point-2, both GE BWRs; and Southern Nuclear's Farley-1, a Westinghouse PWR. One new unit made a spectacular debut: Chubu Electric Power's Hamaoka-5 in Japan, which went commercial Jan. 18, 2005 and became the 7th best by capacity factor and second highest power producer in the world in 2005. The 1,380-MW Toshiba BWR broke into the top generator ranks otherwise dominated by the giant German plants. Brokdorf, a 1,440-MW Siemens PWR owned by Vattenfall and E.On, put out just a hair under 12-million MWH to take the top generating spot. Another new face among the top generators was number 10, Lithuania's Ignalina-2, with 10.97-million MWH. The 1,500-MW Soviet-design RBMK is slated to close in 2009 under Lithuania's European Union (EU) accession agreement (see story, page 14). French units continue to show lower overall capacity factors due to load-following, because the grid doesn't need all their power. Canadian operators are slowly returning laid-up nuclear units to service, but Ontario Power Generation dropped plans to restore Pickering-2 and -3 after experiencing substantial overruns restoring unit 4. In mid-year, Germany lost a unit, Obrigheim, to early shutdown due to the country's nuclear phase-out policy, as did Sweden with Barsebaeck-2. Lithuania shut Ignalina-1, under its EU agreement, at the end of 2004. The year was perhaps notable for what could have been, as operators in several countries encountered regulatory and technical problems that kept their production down. For more nuclear news, request a free trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/ ------------ World's nuclear performance in 2005 close to 2004's London (Platts)--13Feb2006 The world's nuclear operators appear to have squeezed just a little more out of their plants in 2005 than in 2004, but with final figures nearly in, it's close enough to call it a draw. When British Energy reports its total output for the year later this month, it's expected to run about 60-million megawatt-hours (MWH), which would bring the total output from the world's 443 operating reactors to about 2.75-billion MWH. That figure includes, for the first time, all seven of China's operating units; adjusted for them, the 2004 world output was around 2.74-billion MWH. The world average capacity factor was 79.25% in 2005; it was 78.97% in 2004. U.S. operators came very close to their 2004 record, with gross output around 818-million MWH. The 2005 bottom line was 828-million MWH. Net output was about 786-million MWH; the 2004 mark was 789-million MWH. The Nuclear Energy Institute attributed the difference to more routine refueling outages falling within the calendar year, and said the average variable cost of producing a nuclear kilowatt-hour remained 1.68 cents. The most marked increase in output was in South Korea, where Ulchin-6 began commercial operation in April, but that 1,000-MW unit alone didn't account for the country's 16-million MWH increase in generation. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. Ltd. (KHNP) was in the process of shifting its units to 18-month refueling cycles. That and "our extremely low scram rate" meant that "last year we didn't have many units shut for refueling and maintenance outages," said Senior Vice President Hong Jang-hee. Those factors allowed the 20 Korean units not only to notch an average 94.97% capacity factor but to take the top five spots on the list of 50 best capacity factors for the year, led by Kori-4 at 104.85%?though those numbers may also reflect some outdated unit ratings (see below). The U.S. unit with the highest capacity factor was Constellation's Calvert Cliffs-1, a Combustion Engineering (CE)-design PWR, at 101.99%. Right behind were Exelon's Limerick-1, a GE BWR; Duke's Catawba-2, Progress Energy's Shearon-Harris-1, and the Tennessee Valley Authority's Sequoyah-1, all Westinghouse PWRs; Southern California Edison's San Onofre-3, a CE-design PWR; Dominion's North Anna-1, a Westinghouse PWR; Exelon's LaSalle-1, and Constellation's Nine Mile Point-2, both GE BWRs; and Southern Nuclear's Farley-1, a Westinghouse PWR. One new unit made a spectacular debut: Chubu Electric Power's Hamaoka-5 in Japan, which went commercial Jan. 18, 2005 and became the 7th best by capacity factor and second highest power producer in the world in 2005. The 1,380-MW Toshiba BWR broke into the top generator ranks otherwise dominated by the giant German plants. Brokdorf, a 1,440-MW Siemens PWR owned by Vattenfall and E.On, put out just a hair under 12-million MWH to take the top generating spot. Another new face among the top generators was number 10, Lithuania's Ignalina-2, with 10.97-million MWH. The 1,500-MW Soviet-design RBMK is slated to close in 2009 under Lithuania's European Union (EU) accession agreement (see story, page 14). French units continue to show lower overall capacity factors due to load-following, because the grid doesn't need all their power. Canadian operators are slowly returning laid-up nuclear units to service, but Ontario Power Generation dropped plans to restore Pickering-2 and -3 after experiencing substantial overruns restoring unit 4. In mid-year, Germany lost a unit, Obrigheim, to early shutdown due to the country's nuclear phase-out policy, as did Sweden with Barsebaeck-2. Lithuania shut Ignalina-1, under its EU agreement, at the end of 2004. The year was perhaps notable for what could have been, as operators in several countries encountered regulatory and technical problems that kept their production down. For more nuclear news, request a free trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/ ------------ Energy geopolitics make nuclear option sensible for UK: minister London (Platts)--13Feb2006 The geopolitics of energy suggest the UK should invest in new nuclear power to ensure supplies, the country's energy minister Malcolm Wicks said Monday, signaling his support for possible plans to build new nuclear plants. The government last month launched a long-term review of its energy policy, including the possibility of developing a new generation of nuclear power stations. "We are weighing up the arguments. On the pro side, nuclear energy is a clean form of energy," Wicks told an industry conference in London. "The geopolitics of energy would suggest, other things being equal, that it might make sense for the UK to home-grow more of its energy," he said. "Against that, however, is the crucial issue of nuclear waste. I think the answers are probably there but we need to demonstrate that." The minister said that he was going into the energy review with an open mind on the issue, saying he was "nuclear neutral." By 2020, coal and nuclear power plants currently generating about 30% of the UK's electricity are expected to have closed. Nuclear, which now provides 19% of UK electricity, may provide only 7% by 2020 as ageing plants are decommissioned. The UK became a net gas importer in 2005 and is also set to become a net oil importer on an annual basis by around 2010. Wicks also said that any possible takeover bid for Centrica, the UK's largest gas supplier, by Russia's Gazprom would face intense scrutiny. "The UK has always been open to foreign investment. But clearly, we have objectives about competition. Any takeover needs to be subjected to the most rigorous scrutiny, not least on grounds of competition," he said when asked for his views on a possible Gazprom bid. Gazprom has played down recent speculation that it was studying a bid for Centrica, saying it was only looking at the UK in general. The GMB union, which represents many workers in the UK energy sector, last week urged the country's government to use blocking powers to ensure that the Russian gas giant was not able to buy Centrica. --Alex Lawler, alex_lawler@platts.com For similar news, request a free trial to Power UK at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/ ------------ NRC proposes higher licensee fees for FY-06 Washington (Platts)--10Feb2006 NRC is proposing increased licensee fees for fiscal 2006, the agency said today in a Federal Register notice. NRC is required to recover 90% of its annual budget through licensing and inspection fees under 10 CFR Part 170 and through annual fees under Part 171. Licensing and inspection fees will increase to $217 an hour from $205 last year, and annual fees will increase to $215 an hour from $197 for FY-05. A public comment period on the proposed rule closes March 13. ------------ US nuclear operators come within 10-mil MWh of 2004 output record Washington (Platts)--10Feb2006 US nuclear operators came very close to, but didn't break, their 2004 record, generating within 10-mil MWh of 2004's record 828-mil MWh, Platts' Nucleonics Week said. The Nuclear Energy Institute attributed the difference to more routine refueling outages falling within the calendar year and said the average variable cost of producing a nuclear MWh remained $16.80 for both years. Worldwide, nuclear operators appear to have squeezed just a little more out of their plants in 2005 than in 2004, breaking the 2004 record, said Nucleonics Week. When British Energy reports its total output for the year later this month, it's expected to run close to 60-mil MWh, which would bring the total output from the world's 443 operating power reactors to about 2.75-bil MWh. The 2004 world output was a bit over 2.74-bil MWh. ---Margaret Ryan, margaret_ryan@platts.com For more information, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://nucweek.platts.com. ------------ SCE&G, Santee Cooper to build nuke plant near V.C. Summer site Philadelphia (Platts)--10Feb2006 South Carolina Electric & Gas and Santee Cooper said Friday morning that they plan to build their next nuclear plant alongside their existing V.C. Summer nuclear plant near Jenkinsville, South Carolina. They also said they plan to use Westinghouse AP1000 pressurized water reactor technology; such a plant would generate 1,117 MW. Like Progress Energy Carolinas, which announced last month that it will build its next nuclear plant next to its existing Harris nuclear plant, SCE&G and Santee Cooper said that it made sense to "benefit from the synergies" of locating its next nuclear plant at the V.C. Summer site. In December, SCE&G and Santee Cooper notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of their intent to submit a joint application for a combined construction and operating license for a new nuclear plant--probably by the end of 2007--to help meet their incremental needs for baseload power. They hope to secure the COL in 2010, and if they decide to actually build the plant, begin commercial operation of the facility as soon as 2015. SCE&G would operate the new nuclear plant, and the companies would share the ownership and output of the new facility. For more information, take a trial to Platts Electricity Alert at http://electricityalert.platts.com. ------------