Platts - Monday, October 16, 2006 http://www.platts.com ------------ French authorities investigate radiation therapy mistakes London (Platts)--16Oct2006 French authorities are investigating radiation therapy mistakes that have caused one death and exposed 23 patients to doses 20% higher than planned in a hospital in Epinal, in eastern France. In a statement October 12, the Ministry of Health said it had asked the Inspector General for Social Affairs and the Nuclear Safety Authority, ASN, to investigate the errors that led to the overexposures. It said that ASN had sent an inspection team to the hospital July 19. The team concluded last month that the overexposures stemmed from mistakes in entering data in the dosimetry software used to prepare the radiotherapy treatments, that the software was not user-friendly and the technicians were insufficiently trained, and that the victims had not received full information on what had happened, the ministry said. ASN said it formed a working group September 20 to draft recommendations on how to prevent recurrence of such accidents and how to care for patients in the event of a radiotherapy accident. ------------ Utilities may appeal spent fuel damages award Washington (Platts)--13Oct2006 Three New England utilities that were awarded $142.8 million in damages on October 4 for spent nuclear fuel storage costs at their shutdown reactor sites are evaluating an appeal of the US Court of Federal Claims decision, a stakeholder in the utilities said October 13. In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Connecticut Light and Power said the utilities also expect DOE to appeal the decision. CL&P also said the utilities believe "they will have the opportunity in future lawsuits to recover more damages incurred in years after 2001/2002." The utilities -- Yankee Atomic Electric, Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power, and Maine Yankee Atomic Power -- sued the federal government in 1998 after DOE failed to begin disposing of utility spent fuel by a 1998 contract date. ------------ Shaw completes bond offering for Westinghouse share Washington (Platts)--13Oct2006 The Shaw Group announced October 13 the completion of a bond offering of $1.08 billion related to its acquiring a 20% share of Westinghouse. Net proceeds from the yen-denominated bond offering plus about $30 million in cash have been used by subsidiary Nuclear Energy Holdings LLC to acquire the Westinghouse share, Shaw said. Toshiba Corp. will hold 77% of Westinghouse, and Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries will hold 3%. Shaw said the purchase of Westinghouse from British Nuclear Fuels plc is expected to close later this month. ------------ DOE eyes Yucca Mountain waste repository rail alternative Washington (Platts)--12Oct2006 The US Department of Energy plans to consider a second path for a rail line in Nevada to the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, documents showed. In a Federal Register notice scheduled for publication Friday, DOE said it would consider the environmental impact of a 280-mile path, known as the Mina corridor, through the Walker River Paiute Tribe's land in western Nevada. The plan is an alternative to a 319-mile corridor from Caliente to Yucca Mountain that has been DOE's preference for rail transportation to the facility. The tribe has given its blessing to the study. "The Mina corridor appears to offer potential advantages to the extent it would cross fewer mountain ranges, utilize existing rail bed and also be a shorter distance," DOE said in a draft of the notice. "These potential advantages would simplify design and construction, and therefore would be less costly to construct." DOE considered the Mina route in the 1990s, but dropped the idea when the Walker River Paiutes refused it access to their reservation. The tribe reconsidered earlier in 2006. Separately, DOE is also scheduled to publish Friday a Federal Register notice announcing plans for a "supplemental" environmental impact statement on the Yucca Mountain repository site. The department said it would carry out the additional review because of its 2005 decision to use one type of canister to ship, store and ultimately dispose of nuclear waste instead of multiple types. The change necessitated changes in the repository's design. The original EIS was completed in 2002. ------------ Recovery of damaged fuel at Paks to begin soon Budapest (Platts)--12Oct2006 Recovery of severely damaged fuel elements at Hungary's Paks-2 will begin this weekend or the beginning of next week, Paks Chief Executive Jozsef Kovacs said October 12. The timing will depend on when all needed inspections are complete, he said. The fuel elements were damaged in April 2003 after they were removed from the core and placed into a cleaning tank whose cooling system proved inadequate. The fuel was left in the tank and immersed in the unit's service pool. The Russian personnel of a consortium led by fuel producer TVEL have arrived onsite, and the equipment for the recovery procedure has been tested, Kovacs said. Unit 2 will remain shut for the duration of the procedure, expected to last a few months. ------------