Platts - Thursday, October 12, 2006 http://www.platts.com ------------ NRC proposes $60,000 fine for violation at Cook Washington (Platts)--11Oct2006 NRC is proposing a $60,000 fine against American Electric Power for a violation at Cook, the agency said in an October 6 letter, released October 10. The agency said the fine is for a "non-conservative" 2003 change the company made in its emergency plan without obtaining the necessary NRC approval. The agency said it is crediting the company for corrective actions it already has taken but not for identification of the problem since NRC, not AEP, identified it. AEP, which operates the two-unit Cook plant through subsidiary Indiana Michigan Power, has 30 days to contest the proposed fine. ------------ NRC issues order to establish fingerprinting program Washington (Platts)--10Oct2006 NRC issued orders requiring fingerprinting and criminal history record checks for all NRC licensees and individuals seeking access to safeguards information, or SGI. Although it is working on an SGI rulemaking that includes fingerprinting and FBI background check requirements, NRC said it had to issue the order before completing the SGI rule because of a mandate in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The order (EA-06-203) was issued September 29 and was publicly released October 10. NRC said the current processing fee is $27 per submission, which includes charges by the FBI for each fingerprint card or record. The agency said licensees will have 20 days from the orders' date to establish a fingerprinting program, or notify NRC that they are unable to comply with the requirements. ------------ Suez/Electrabel pledge to sell 250 mw of nuclear capacity to SPE london (Platts)--10Oct2006 Suez/Electrabel has pledged to sell 250 mw of nuclear capacity to SPE, Belgium's second-biggest electricity producer, and to conclude further agreements with SPE for long-term sales of another 285 MW of nuclear generation. Suez will also swap 100 MW of its nuclear capacity in Belgium against SPE's 100-MW share of Chooz, the PWR station operated by Electricite de France on the Franco-Belgian border. The deals come under an agreement announced between Suez/Electrabel and the Belgian government late October 6, in the context of Suez's planned merger with Gaz de France. GDF currently owns 25.5% of SPE but is expected to yield that to co-owner Centrica, which would then control the Belgian utility. The government's goal is to establish a strong second player with 30% of Belgium's electricity market to counter the dominance of Electrabel. Suez/Electrabel also promised to put 2,400 MW of non-nuclear capacity up for auction; E.On appears well-placed to take up that offer, according to reports. The agreement with the government of Guy Verhofstadt also foresees closer state oversight over the use of financial provisions for decommissioning of Belgium's seven PWR units. The accord was submitted to the European Commission, which has until October 25 to rule on whether the merger will negatively affect competition in European electricity and gas markets. ------------ Estimates of size, type of North Korea's nuclear test vary Washington (Platts)--9Oct2006 North Korea's underground explosion produced hugely varying estimates of its character and size. North Korea said the explosion was nuclear, but only the Russian government's defense minister immediately agreed, saying the blast equated to 5,000-15,000 kilotons of TNT. Officials elsewhere demurred on whether the explosion was nuclear, conventional, or a nuclear fizzle. The University of Helsinki's Sysmae station said it measured the blast at 4.2 on the Richter Scale, which calculated back to 2 kilotons. The Korea Center for Earthquake Research and the Korea Institute for Geoscience & Mineral Resources estimated the yield at 0.5-0.8 kilotons. Detailed analyses of global seismic and atmospheric data are needed to settle the issue. Whatever its size, the test claimed one immediate victim: South Korea's "sunshine" policy. President Roh Moo Hyun announced the attempt to open communication between the two Koreas had not worked and would change. Roh and new Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in their first meeting, dropped plans to discuss historic grievances and united in condemning the test. China, North Korea's main ally, joined the rest of the UN Security Council in condemning it. Iran, itself suspected of developing clandestine nuclear weapons, defended North Korea, saying it was responding to US aggression and "humiliation." ------------ Gas price volatility prompts 'consideration' of nuclear power london (Platts)--9Oct2006 The volatility of natural gas prices is one of the primary reasons electric company executives have been giving serious consideration to building new nuclear power plants, said Edward Cummins, director of the AP600 and AP1000 projects for Westinghouse Electric Co. The incentives provided for in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 are a "bonus" and "not the reason" for the hard look at nuclear power, he said. Paul Joskow, another speaker at the American Enterprise Institute's October 6 conference, said the incentives could be worth as much as $20 per megawatt-hour and make building new reactors competitive with coal-fired or natural gas plants. Joskow, an economics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said a 2003 MIT study on the future of nuclear power put the overnight costs of building a new reactor at about $2,000 per kilowatt. He said he believed the estimate was still on target, but that in today's costs, it would be $2,300/KW. ------------ NRC staff recommends security assessments for new plants Washington (Platts)--6Oct2006 Reactor applicants would have to assess the security features of proposed new plants, the NRC staff recommended in a proposed rule released October 6. The staff said in a seven-page paper (Secy 06-204) that addressing design issues relating to the security of the facility during the licensing process would reduce reliance later on the operational security programs. Applicants would have to conduct a security assessment at various stages of the licensing process to determine how the design features protect plant systems, structures and components. The staff said the security assessment would "serve as one of the technical bases for evaluating the applicant's security program during the licensing phase." The security assessment requirements, if approved by the commission, would apply to applicants for a construction permit, operating license, design certification, manufacturing license, and combined construction permit-operating license. ------------ NRC staff recommends security assessments for new plants Washington (Platts)--6Oct2006 Reactor applicants would have to assess the security features of proposed new plants, the NRC staff recommended in a proposed rule released October 6. The staff said in a seven-page paper (Secy 06-204) that addressing design issues relating to the security of the facility during the licensing process would reduce reliance later on the operational security programs. Applicants would have to conduct a security assessment at various stages of the licensing process to determine how the design features protect plant systems, structures and components. The staff said the security assessment would "serve as one of the technical bases for evaluating the applicant's security program during the licensing phase." The security assessment requirements, if approved by the commission, would apply to applicants for a construction permit, operating license, design certification, manufacturing license, and combined construction permit-operating license. ------------