Platts - Tuesday, March 07, 2006 http://www.platts.com ------------ Short list may be emerging for China's eleventh five-year plan London (Platts)--7Mar2006 Political decision making for nuclear power projects to be included in China's Eleventh Five-Year Economic Plan will intensify in March and April toward a final decision by China's Council of Ministers during second-half 2006, Chinese and foreign sources said this week. At issue are power reactors that will be designated for construction during 2006-10. Decision making for these projects is ongoing and will continue in the National People's Congress this spring, officials said. A year ago, about a dozen Chinese provinces scattered across the country's 4,000-kilometer-long (2,486 miles) coastline said they were trying to set up nuclear power projects for the Eleventh Plan with various utility companies and other potential investors (NW, 21 Apr. '05, 4). According to Chinese officials then, Fujian Province had finished a feasibility study for a power reactor project that would be submitted for consideration in the Eleventh Plan (NW, 28 April, 5). A joint venture was announced Feb. 16 by China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC) and a hefty utility investor, the China Huadian Corp. (CHD), for a power reactor project in Fujian. CNNC told a news agency last week that the Fujian project is "listed in the 11th five-year plan." According to Chinese and foreign sources, the CNNC statement was misleading. "It would be more appropriate to say that Fujian is in the planning process," one senior official said Feb. 28. "At this stage, that process is indicative, not prescriptive," he said. No absolute and final decision will be made to site power reactors in Fujian or elsewhere until later this year, one Beijing official said the same day, although the Fujian site is a "leading candidate." The full version of this story was published in Platts Nucleonics Week. Request a free trial at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/ ------------ EDF to file license application for Flamanville-3 EPR in May London (Platts)--7Mar2006 Electricite de France (EDF) plans to apply for a construction-operation license for Flamanville-3 in May, following the close of the national public debate on the proposed EPR unit, EDF senior executive vice president Bernard Dupraz said last week. The conclusions of the special commission (CPDP) that conducted the national debate since September are scheduled for submittal March 10 (NW, 23 Feb., 1). But Dupraz said the close of the debate is considered to come with official conclusions from the National Commission for Public Debate (CNDP), which named the members of the EPR CPDP. He said the CNDP has a month to submit its conclusions after receiving those from the special commission, which means EDF can't proceed with the Flamanville-3 project licensing until late April or May. Once the license is submitted, the government must open a public inquiry, which will involve only communities within a short distance of the plant site. That inquiry can last a maximum of two months, with conclusions due about a month later. Given other reviews and other legal and administrative steps, the license probably won't be issued until first quarter 2007. The full version of this story was published in Platts Nucleonics Week. Request a free trial at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/ ------------ NRC observing investigation of tritium at Palo Verde-3 Washington (Platts)--6Mar2006 The NRC sent a health physicst to Palo Verde today to observe Arizona Public Service Co.'s investigation into tritium-laced water found near Palo Verde-3, NRC spokesman Victor Dricks said. There has not been any indication that the radioactive material moved offsite, Dricks said. APS notified NRC of its finding last week after it alerted the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. The tritium content of water found in a 13-foot-deep hole near unit 3 was about 71,400 picocuries per liter, APS spokesman James McDonald said. The level is low but above what's permitted under regulation, he said. APS has not yet determined the source of the tritium--whether it came from an underground pipe leak, the plant's NRC-permitted releases of tritium into the air, or occurred naturally, McDonald said. No leaks have been found, he said, adding that the tainted water is more than 200 feet above an aquifer with potable water. Tritium is a byproduct of fission. ------------ Cogema-Eurodif scores victory in trade case with USEC Washington (Platts)--6Mar2006 Cogema-Eurodif scored a victory in its long-running trade case with USEC. In "final remand results" issued today, the Department of Commerce eliminated the import duty, known as a "countervailing" duty, that had been applied to low- enriched uranium Cogema had exported to the US. Commerce said it was following the directive of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which, in two decisions last year, ruled that enrichment is a service rather than a good and therefore not subject to countervailing duties. In the document today, Commerce said that while it was implementing the appeals court's decision, it strongly disagreed with the court and held open the possibility of ultimately taking the case to the Supreme Court. For more information, take a trial to Nuclear News Flashes at http://www.nuclearnews.platts.com. ------------ Laboratories oppose DOE decision to not fund assistance programs Washington (Platts)--6Mar2006 Officials at Energy Department laboratories, as well as universities with undergraduate nuclear engineering programs, oppose the department's decision to not fund its university assistance program in fiscal 2007, Leonard Bond of the Idaho National Laboratory said yesterday at a nuclear waste conference in Tucson, Arizona. "It's very important that we speak loudly, if we're going to maintain the lifestyle we need," Bond said, referring to the labor shortage the nuclear industry and its regulators could face in five years due to large numbers of retiring workers. The Energy Department, which faces a near-level budget in FY-07, said in budget documents that it zeroed out the program because undergraduate enrollment in nuclear engineering had reached its target of 1,500 students. For more information, take a trial to Nuclear News Flashes at http://www.nuclearnews.platts.com. ------------ Yucca Mountain faces challenges says former Energy Dept. official Washington (Platts)--3Mar2006 The repository project at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, faces institutional, political, and legal challenges that have been driven in part by "historical regional equity and fairness concerns," said a former Energy Department official. Lake Barrett, a former acting director of the Yucca Mountain project, told officials at a nuclear waste conference in Tucson, Arizona, this week that he believed that "if political solutions can be found to these fundamental Nevada concerns, ... that other technical, regulatory, management and budget issues can be adequately addressed." Waste legislation expected to be introduced in Congress this year could provide a vehicle to "address these policy issues," said Barrett, who heads L. Barrett Consulting. In an apparent reference to the department's new fuel-cycle initiative, the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, Barrett said he believed "that the current global situation and advanced nuclear technologies can be integrated to play an important role in revising current policy in an acceptable way for everyone." He cautioned, however, the country must proceed with a repository, adding that advanced fuel-cycle technologies "are decades away from meaningful implementation and are not in themselves a waste disposal solution." For more information, take a trial to Nuclear News Flashes at http://www.nuclearnews.platts.com. ------------ Davis-Besse to begin refueling outage March 6 Washington (Platts)--3Mar2006 Davis-Besse will begin a refueling outage March 6, operator FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. said today. During the outage, plant personnel will replace several components in the plant's turbine, increasing the plant's gross capacity from 935 MW (electric) to 946 MW, Fenoc said. The plant is scheduled to return to service in April, Fenoc said. ------------ US NRC DEIS finds no roadblocks to Palisades nuke license renewal Washington (Platts)--3Mar2006 US Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff issued a preliminary report Friday that found no environmental impacts that would prevent the agency from renewing the operating license for the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in Covert, Michigan. The plant is operated by Nuclear Management Co. for Consumers Energy. The agency is seeking public comment on the draft environmental impact statement for the proposed license renewal which includes NRC's preliminary assessment of the environmental impacts of renewal of the Palisades license for an additional 20 years. The draft EIS is open for public comment until May 18 and will also be the subject of public meetings on April 5 in South Haven, Michigan. NRC has been reviewing the proposed extension of the Palisades license since Nuclear Management submitted its application in March 2005. Under NRC regulations, the original operating license for a nuclear power plant is issued for up to 40 years. The license may be renewed for up to an additional 20 years if NRC requirements are met. The current NRC license at Palisades will expire on March 24, 2011. The NRC staff's preliminary recommendation is that the adverse environmental impacts of license renewal for the Palisades reactor are not so great that preserving the option of license renewal for energy-planning decision makers would be unreasonable. For more information, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://nucweek.platts.com. ------------