Platts - Tuesday, March 28, 2006 http://www.platts.com ------------ Santee Cooper board OKs plan for coal plant, nuclear plant stakes Birmingham, Alabama (Platts)--28Mar2006 The Santee Cooper board of directors has approved a $2.5 billion generation construction plan, one of five it could have picked, for the South Carolina utility that includes building a 600-MW coal plant and 45% stakes in two proposed nuclear plant units, the company said Tuesday. The plan includes construction of a 168-MW simple cycle combustion turbine to come online in 2011, purchased power amounts of 100 MW for 2012 and 250 MW for 2013, construction of a 600-MW supercritical pulverized coal plant to come online in 2014 and a 45% stake in two proposed 1,100 MW Westinghouse nuclear units that would be built at the VC Summer Nuclear site, and would come online in 2016 and 2019. The plan, which was approved late Monday, authorizes Santee Cooper to begin the process necessary to build the 600-MW coal plant and to pursue a construction and operating permit for a stake of the two nuclear units. Santee Cooper owns a one-third share of an existing nuclear plant at VC Summer, which is majority-owned by South Carolina Electric & Gas. The two companies are working together thus far to pursue one new unit at the site. Santee Cooper needs the new baseload plants to accommodate the 3% to 4% annual growth in its service territory, the company said. Without them the utility would have a 399 MW supply deficit by 2013 and a 672 MW deficit by 2015, the company said. For more information, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://nucweek.platts.com. ------------ Andra expects to begin repository site investigations next year London (Platts)--28Mar2006 Andra must begin investigating a potential repository site around its Bure laboratory next year if it is to be ready to apply for a construction license in 2015, as envisaged in the French government's just-approved programmatic nuclear waste bill, according to Marie-Claude Dupuis, general manager of the French radwaste agency. Dupuis said Andra was in the process of setting a new schedule for work in the Callovo-Oxfordian argilite (clay) formation around the underground laboratory, which research has indicated has the required properties to host a deep geologic repository. But at a press conference called by industry minister Francois Loos March 22 to present the waste bill (Nucleonics Week, 23 March, 1), Dupuis said Andra needs to begin test drilling and seismic studies soon in the so-called transposition zone around the lab in order to identify and characterize a precise site for the repository. Dupuis said the "generic" characterization of the clay formation was presented in Andra's "Clay 2005" report last June, which will be updated this year. But a license application requires data specific to the repository location, she said, and that will require time. If the government's bill passes parliament, Andra would be authorized to continue research at Bure and start looking for a repository site, so as to be ready with a license application in 2015. The bill sets a target for repository operation of 2025. This story was published in full in Platts Nuclear Fuel. Request a free trial at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/ ------------ Russia, India announce new deal for fuel supply to Tarapur London (Platts)--28Mar2006 Russia and India this month announced an agreement on fuel supply for India's Tarapur reactor, citing as justification the so-called safety exception in the Nuclear Suppliers Group guidelines. Under the guidelines, India generally is not eligible for exports of nuclear goods such as reactors and fuel because it does not accept IAEA safeguards on all its nuclear facilities. If a pending effort led by the US is successful, such exports would be allowed, in return for certain nonproliferation measures by India. But the question of the broad exception for India has not yet been put before the NSG for a decision. State Department officials said Moscow should have waited for the NSG to approve the Tarapur fuel transfer. India, noting that its two BWRs at Tarapur are under safeguards, said in a March 15 statement that it "has had to seek urgent and limited supplies of uranium fuel to enable Tarapur to continue its operations in safety." The station's current fuel supply reportedly will run out this summer. But a US official said it was "wrong" to invoke the safety exception, which is intended to address immediate radiological hazards. The view of the US "and many others" is that the exception does not apply in this case, he said. Russia faced similar criticism in response to a 2001 fuel sale to Tarapur, which it justified under the same safety exception (NF, 28 May '01, 5; Nucleonics Week, 28 June '01, 14). India's March 15 statement noted that, in a July 18 joint statement with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, President George W. Bush had committed the US to working to "adjust" US laws and NSG guidelines to allow nuclear trade with India. Furthermore, the foreign ministry said, the Bush-Singh statement "commits the US, in the meantime, to encourage its partners to consider India's request for such fuel supplies expeditiously." The relevant section of the Bush-Singh statement says, "The president would also seek agreement from Congress to adjust US laws and policies, and the United States will work with friends and allies to adjust international regimes to enable full civil nuclear energy cooperation and trade with India, including but not limited to expeditious consideration of fuel supplies for safeguarded nuclear reactors at Tarapur. In the meantime, the United States will encourage its partners to also consider this request expeditiously." This story was published in full in Platts Nuclear Fuel. Request a free trial at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/ ------------ Davis-Besse to repair cracking indication Washington (Platts)--27Mar2006 Davis-Besse will perform a weld overlay on an indication of cracking in a cold-leg drain line for a reactor coolant pump later this week, but the work is not expected to delay the unit's ongoing refueling and maintenance outage, Richard Wilkins, a spokesman for operator FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co., said today. Since the indication of axial cracking was discovered March 21, Fenoc has taken radiographs of the indication and checked the rest of the cold- and hot-leg lines to the pump, Wilkins said. He said Fenoc would proceed with the repair although it wasn't clear there actually was cracking in the line. The outage, which began March 6, is still scheduled to end in mid- to late April, he said. ------------ Strike to cut output 5% at Hungary's Paks nuclear plant Monday Budapest (Platts)--24Mar2006 Hungarian trade union MESZ, which represents 570 shift workers at Hungary's Paks nuclear power plant, has declared a strike at the plant effective Monday morning, March 27, at 0700 GMT. The 72-hour industrial action will mean a 5% reduction in output at the 1,866-MW Paks plant, chief executive Jozsef Kovacs said at a news conference. Kovacs said that Paks had offered an average pay rise of 5% in 2006, while providing perquisites and in-kind benefits for every employee worth nearly one million forints ($4,525). This in line with the collective agreement between workers and employers in the power sector, he said. MESZ had demanded a 15% pay rise, and that half of any surplus profit as compared to the company's business plan be distributed among the workers. Kovacs noted that two other representative trade unions, PADOSZ and the Workers' Council, remained in talks with management as agreed earlier, along with a non-representative union, the young workers' association ATISZ. These unions demand an 8% pay rise. Management views MESZ's strike action, which is taking place while negotiations are ongoing, as unacceptable, according to Kovacs. There are strict legal regulations regarding strikes at the nuclear plant, and all safety guidelines will be fully respected, Kovacs added. For more information, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://nucweek.platts.com. ------------ UK proposes to sell part of British Energy stake London (Platts)--23Mar2006 The UK government proposes to sell part of its stake in British Energy, Chancellor Gordon Brown said yesterday while delivering the annual budget. He said a final decision would not be made until the government concluded its current energy review in the summer. The government bailed out privatized British Energy in 2002 when the utility got into financial difficulties due to low electricity prices. As part of the company's restructuring, the government's Department of Trade and Industry said it would meet the costs of existing spent fuel management liabilities and underwrite any shortfall in the liabilities fund if British Energy committed in return to contribute 65% of its annual free cash flow to the liabilities fund. Although not a shareholder, the department has an option to convert that so-called annual "cash sweep" into British Energy shares, equivalent to a maximum of 65% of the company's equity after conversion. This equity can then be sold to a third party. ------------