Platts - Monday, May 15, 2006 http://www.platts.com ------------ Oil prices would go over $100/barrel if US attacked Iran: Chavez London (Platts)--15May2006 World oil prices would rise to over $100/barrel in the event of any US strike against Iran as a result of the escalating tension over Tehran's nuclear program, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Monday. "If there is any aggression against Iran, oil prices will increase from $70 to over $100/barrel," Chavez told reporters in London, when asked what impact any US action against Iran could have on oil prices. "I am sure that Iran is not developing a nuclear bomb," Chavez added. On Sunday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that any new deal offered by European powers aimed at halting Iran's civilian nuclear activities would be rejected. Chavez would not be drawn on whether Venezuela would suspend its own oil exports to the US in sympathy in the event of a strike on Iran. "I cannot answer that, we don't want to suspend [oil exports to the US]. We are responsible citizens despite the aggression of the US," he said. For similar news, take a trial to Platts Oilgram News at http://oilgramnews.platts.com. ------------ Former Russian regulatory chief named Rosatom deputy director London (Platts)--15May2006 Former Russian nuclear regulatory chief Andrey Malyshev was named deputy director of Rosatom, the Federal Atomic Energy Agency, Rosatom said May 12. Malyshev, 45, was the first chairman of Russia's Federal Service for Ecological, Technological and Nuclear Supervision (Rostekhnadzor) since that service's creation in 2004, incorporating the former nuclear regulatory agency Gosatomnadzor. Since December, he had been head of Rostekhnadzor's nuclear branch, following the appointment of Konstantin Pulikovsky as head of the service. At Rosatom, Malyshev replaced Sergey Antipov, who left Rosatom for a new appointment, Rosatom said. Antipov, a former head of nuclear utility Rosenergoatom, had been in the Rosatom post only a few months. Malyshev's replacement at the regulatory agency was not immediately announced. ------------ Tianwan-1 connected to Chinese grid May 12 London (Platts)--15May2006 Tianwan-1 was connected to the Chinese grid today at 4:30pm Moscow time, according to Russia's Atomstroyexport, which built the VVER-1000 on a turnkey basis. The unit will operate at 30% nominal power for testing purposes until the end of the year, it said. Atomstroyexport said that the Tianwan project, which comprises two modern VVER-1000s in China's Jiangsu province, was the first nuclear power plant export order for Russian industry in a decade and the first one implemented during the "transition to market conditions." It was built under a 1992 bilateral cooperation agreement. Atomstroyexport said last week that hot testing had begun at Tianwan-2, in preparation for fuel loading at that unit. Both units are significantly delayed compared to the original construction schedule, due to equipment and licensing difficulties. For similar stories, request a free trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/ ------------ Entergy believes strontium-90 leaks tied to Indian Point-1 Washington (Platts)--12May2006 Entergy believes it has "clearly tied" strontium-90 leaks to the Indian Point- 1 spent fuel pool, company spokesman Jim Steets said yesterday. He called the development "positive" because Entergy is "well along" in its efforts to remove the spent fuel and water from the pool. He said spent fuel casks have been ordered and a concrete pad for a dry spent fuel storage facility has already been built. The fuel from the pool will be moved into dry storage next year, he said. Indian Point-1 permanently ceased operating in 1974. Strontium-90 is a fission product found in spent fuel pool water. Steets said Entergy is still monitoring Indian Point-2, where a small leak in the spent fuel pool was discovered last summer. The leak appeared to have dried up at one point, but Entergy has recently been seeing "very small amounts" of water in the same area, he said. For similar news, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://nucweek.platts.com. ------------ Senate panel to hold May 17 hearing on Klein's NRC nomination Washington (Platts)--12May2006 The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee plans to hold a hearing May 17 on Nuclear Regulatory Commission nominee Dale Klein, who is expected to be named NRC chairman, once confirmed by the full Senate. Klein is currently the assistant to the Secretary of Defense for nuclear, chemical and biological defense programs. He would succeed Nils Diaz, whose second term expires June 30. For similar news, take a trial to Inside NRC at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/ ------------ US-India nuclear deal supporter plans "compromise" legislation London (Platts)--12May2006 A leading democratic supporter of the proposed US-India nuclear deal said today he is planning to introduce "compromise" legislation because there is not yet consensus on the proposal, and time is running short for the current Congress. California Representative Tom Lantos, the top Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, proposed that Congress move quickly to adopt legislation expressing general support for the deal -- under which current restrictions on nuclear trade with India would be lifted, in return for nonproliferation measures by New Delhi -- but defer a more substantive vote until two key agreements with India were in place. Lantos said his approach would help maintain "momentum" and provide "reassurance" of congressional support without "compromising the oversight role of Congress." A committee staffer told reporters the legislation had not been finalized. Howard Berman, who has been more critical of the deal, also said he was working on legislation. In a May 8 letter to his House colleagues, Berman, also a California Democrat, said his bill would establish conditions that countries, such as India, that are not parties to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, would have to meet in order to be eligible for US nuclear cooperation. While he said in his letter, "some of these conditions will be difficult to meet," he said he was not trying to kill the deal. For more news, request a free trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/ ------------ First contractor publicly declares interest to manage Sellafield London (Platts)--12May2006 WGI is the first contractor to publicly declare its interest in managing Sellafield. E. Preston Rahe, Washington Group International's president of the Energy and Environment Business unit, talked about the company's plans yesterday with journalists in London. A consultant for WGI told Platts today that the company would make a bid for the Sellafield management contract -- worth more than 5 billion pounds (US$9 billion) over five years -- when the contract is put out to competition next year by owner Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, or NDA. The contract is being used as a "sweetener" to encourage a major contractor or consortium to purchase current Sellafield manager, British Nuclear Group, or BNG. The contract and the BNG sale are tied. The consultant said WGI had been talking to other large contractors but has not decided whether to bid for the contract alone or as part of a consortium. WGI also aims to bid for the Drigg management contract when expressions of interest are invited next month, he said. The Drigg low-level waste repository management contract also involves assistance to the NDA in developing a UK-wide LLW plan covering all 20 NDA sites. For more news, request a free trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/ ------------ House panel cuts funding for GNEP Washington (Platts)--11May2006 DOE's Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) program would receive a deep budget cut under a fiscal 2007 funding bill that a House Appropriations subcommittee approved today. DOE had requested $250 million to launch GNEP in FY-07, which begins October 1. Subcommittee members, however, allocated a little more than half of that -- $150 million -- for the fuel-cycle initiative, using the balance to restore funding to such energy efforts as assistance to university nuclear engineering programs and to programs to assist with the cost of weatherizing homes. Representative David Hobson, (Republican-Ohio) who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee that controls DOE spending, said that while he supports plans to recycle power reactor spent fuel, he has "serious policy, technical, and financial reservations about the GNEP proposal." ------------