Platts - Friday, July 14, 2006 http://www.platts.com ------------ USEC uranium sale unlawful - Government Accountability Office london (Platts)--14Jul2006 DOE UNLAWFULLY AUGMENTED ITS APPROPRIATIONS BY HAVING USEC SELL 900 METRIC TONS of uranium between December 2004 and November 2005, according to a legal opinion from the congressional Government Accountability Office. The July 12 letter report to Senator Pete Domenici, a Republican from New Mexico and chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, noted that USEC sold the uranium for $62 million to four buyers. DOE had transferred the uranium to USEC to pay USEC for decontaminating DOE- and USEC-owned uranium that had excess levels of technetium. In November 2005, Congress passed legislation that allows DOE to barter, transfer or sell uranium to cover the costs of decontaminating its own uranium. The report said DOE circumvented the receipts statute by using USEC as its sales agent and using the sales proceeds to pay USEC for decontamination services. Under federal law, DOE should have turned the sales proceeds over to the US Treasury and used funds Congress had appropriated to pay USEC. owever, at the time of the transaction, DOE did not have such funds in its budget to pay for the decontamination services. To remedy the violation of a miscellaneous receipts statute, DOE should transfer $62 million to the miscellaneous receipts of the Treasury, the report said. Alternatively, DOE could seek congressional approval for transfer of the 900 MT, the report said, which would also remedy the violation of the receipts statute. ------------ French nuclear plant maker 'surprised' at regulator's criticism Paris (Platts)--13Jul2006 Areva said it was "deeply surprised" by the critical report issued by Finnish nuclear regulatory agency STUK Wednesday on delays in construction of a 1,600-MW nuclear plant at Olkiluoto-3. The French vendor, whose Areva NP unit is building the 1,600-MW EPR (European pressurized water reactor) unit for Finnish utility TVO, said the STUK report "reflects a unilateral point of view" and that it would seek a meeting with STUK "to understand and clarify the situation." STUK's report concluded that Areva NP--formerly Framatome ANP--had underestimated the time needed for the work and thus committed to schedules that caused "confusion" on the work site. It also said Areva had failed to properly manage construction of the reactor basemat by a subcontractor. In late 2003, Areva and Siemens committed to build the first-of-a-kind reactor for TVO on a turnkey basis in 48 months, with commercial operation in mid-2009, but the vendor and utility both announced this week that the plant would be commissioned in the second quarter of 2010. Areva said in a statement that "the investigation found problems in construction but not (in) nuclear safety" and said it and TVO had always reported on construction issues in a "regular and transparent" manner. For similar stories, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/ ------------ Court sides with Barsebaeck management on decommissioning plan Stockholm (Platts)--12Jul2006 The two Barsebaeck 600-MW reactors can be decommissioned according to plant management's long-term plan, rather than immediately, a Swedish court ruled July 12. Plant management wants to wait until 2020 to begin dismantling the units, when a final storage facility for the reactor components is scheduled to be ready. Officials in the town of Kaevlinge, where the plant is located, want dismantling to begin immediately. They said there were disappointed by the decision, but did not say whether they will appeal. ------------ Entergy to buy Palisades plant from Consumers for $380 million Washington (Platts)--12Jul2006 Entergy has reached a deal to buy the Palisades nuclear power plant in Michigan from Consumers Energy for $380 million, ending a competitive bidding process for the plant that started last year, Entergy said Wednesday. As part of the purchase, Entergy has agreed to sell 100% of the plant's output back to Consumers for 15 years at a price structure that Entergy said retains the benefits of low-cost nuclear generation for Consumers' 1.8 million electric customers in Michigan. The $380-million price represents $242 million for the 798-MW plant itself, $83 million in nuclear fuel based on current market prices, and $55 million in related assets. The sale also includes the Big Rock Point independent spent fuel storage installation and compensates Entergy for accepting that responsibility. Palisades' current operating license expires in 2011, and an application is pending at the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to extend the license for 20 years. A license extension is expected in early 2007. Entergy will assume responsibility for eventual decommissioning of the Palisades plant near South Haven, Michigan, and Consumers will pay Entergy $30 million to accept responsibility for the spent fuel at the decommissioned Big Rock Point plant near Charlevoix, Michigan. Consumers will retain $200 million of the current $566 million balance of Palisades' decommissioning fund, with the later return of an additional $116 million pending a favorable tax ruling. The final purchase price will be subject to several adjustments at closing. The sale must be approved by the NRC, the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Michigan Public Service Commission and others. For more news, request a free trial to Platts Electric Utility Week at http://electricutilityweek.platts.com or subscribe now at http://www.platts.com/infostore/product_info.php?cPath=2_31&products_id=48 ------------ UK government proposes new nuclear construction London (Platts)--12Jul2006 The UK government proposed new nuclear construction in a package of carbon- reducing measures to meet the country's energy needs over the next 30 to 40 years. In announcing the results July 11 of a six-month long government energy review, UK Trade Secretary Alistair Darling told Parliament that "it will be for the private sector to initiate, fund, construct and operate" new reactors. The private sector must also cover costs of decommissioning and long-term waste management, he said. Darling said initiating nuclear construction would be a decision for investors in new generating plants to make. Further public consultations on various issues are planned before a White Paper is published "around the turn of the year," he said. One consultation will be on the proposed planning framework for handling nuclear issues, he said. Vincent de Rivaz, chief executive of EDF Energy, told a British Broadcasting Corporation program that EDF is not yet ready to take the plunge into new UK nuclear construction. EDF has "confidence," however, that after the proposed consultation process is completed, there will be a "clear framework" to enable EDF to make a decision, he said. For more news, request a free trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/ ------------ NRC approves uprate for Constellation's Ginna Washington (Platts)--11Jul2006 Constellation's request for a 16.8% power boost at Ginna was approved by NRC staff on July 11. The uprate would increase the plant's output to 610 MW, an increase of about 75 MW, NRC said. Constellation chose the increased power level for Ginna, a two-loop Westinghouse PWR, based on the current operating level of Kewaunee, which is of comparable design. Constellation plans to increase Ginna's output following a fall refueling outage, NRC staff said.