Platts - Thursday, December 21, 2006 http://www.platts.com ------------ Prime minister: Sweden could consider new nuclear after 2010 Stockholm (Platts)--21Dec2006 Sweden could look at building new nuclear plants after 2010, Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said at a press conference in Stockholm December 21. His comments come several days after he said the same thing in an interview with the newspaper Sydsvenska Dagbladet. Reinfeldt leads a Conservative-coalition government that has agreed to stop phase-out of nuclear, but not to discuss building new units during its four-year term that started in October. At the press conference, with Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren, Reinfeldt announced formation of a high-level advisory committee to help the government formulate a climate strategy, which is scheduled to be ready in 2008. ------------ Chirac reaffirms need to develop a fourth-generation reactor London (Platts)--21Dec2006 French president Jacques Chirac reaffirmed the need to develop a fourth-generation reactor at a Council of Ministers meeting December 20, marking the official launch of a project to build a prototype fast reactor by 2020. In a statement, the government said the Atomic Energy Committee, a policy-making body, would meet December 20 to approve a "detailed plan for research to be conducted over the coming years" on the Gen IV prototype project. That includes research on materials, fuel, operation, in-service inspection and maintenance as well as facilities for reprocessing spent fuel from the proposed reactor. Chirac said that France's nuclear technology must be supported "in a context marked by high prices for oil and gas and the threat of global warming." A choice of technology will be made in 2012 and construction launched on the reactor, the government said. Chirac first proposed that France build a Gen IV prototype in a speech January 5. ------------ FPL Energy to pay nearly $1 billion for Point Beach Washington (Platts)--20Dec2006 FPL Energy will buy 100% of Point Beach-1 and -2 from Wisconsin Electric Power Co., or We Energies, for almost $1 billion, the companies' parent companies announced December 20. The sale will increase the generating capacity that FPL Energy owns in the Midwest, which includes a 70% interest in the 630-MW Duane Arnold station in Iowa and about 660 MW of wind power in Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Kansas. This is the third nuclear plant purchase for FPL Energy and its parent, FPL Group, which acquired its majority stake in Duane Arnold in January 2006 and an 88.2% interest in Seabrook in New Hampshire in November 2002. FPL also owns and operates Turkey Point-3 and -4 and St. Lucie-1 and -2 in Florida. ------------ ASN commission to consider a license for Flamanville-3 in January London (Platts)--20Dec2006 The ASN commission will consider a license for Flamanville-3 in January, according to Andre-Claude Lacoste, chairman of the French Nuclear Safety Authority, or ASN. It is the first time that a license application for construction of a major nuclear installation, called INB in French, will come before the full five-member commission of ASN, which became an independent authority in September and whose commissioners were named in mid-November. If approved by the commission, the license decree must be signed by the prime minister and government ministers with jurisdiction, and published in the Official Journal, to be valid. Electricite de France applied last spring for the construction-operation license for the 1,630-MW EPR it wants to build at the Flamanville site in Normandy. ------------ NRC taking enforcement action against Fenoc for 2005 incident Washington (Platts)--19Dec2006 NRC is taking enforcement action against FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. for a 2005 incident at Beaver Valley. The action is because a contractor engineer "deliberately failed to adhere to a procedural requirement" by certifying that a set of documents was complete when he knew it was not, the agency told Fenoc in a December 19 letter. The set of documents, known as an "engineering change package," dealt with a reactor vessel head replacement. On a "technical" basis, the engineer's action "most closely fits a Severity Level IV violation," the lowest level on NRC's four-tiered scale, because it did not raise significant risks and because Fenoc "identified this issue early in the design change review process," the agency said. But because the action was deliberate, NRC increased the rating to Level III. In the letter, NRC also said that Fenoc had taken corrective actions and is planning to take additional measures, including submittal of an operating-experience report to the rest of the industry, via the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations. Because of the completed and planned corrective actions, NRC is not imposing a fine, the agency said. ------------ Nuclear power not the right choice for new gen: Nordic official London (Platts)--19Dec2006 Nuclear power is not the right choice for new generation, a top Nordic council official said in Vilnius December 18. Asmund Kristoffersen, chairman of the Nordic Council Environment and Natural Resources Committee, said, "As long as the waste issue remains unresolved and safety at nuclear plants is imperfect, we cannot use nuclear power without handing down a burden to our children and grandchildren." Council members were meeting with their counterparts from the Baltic Assembly to map out a joint program for 2007. There was no immediate comment from the three Baltic countries on Kristoffersen's remarks. Led by Lithuania, the three hope to build a new nuclear reactor which would go online in 2015. ------------ Westinghouse's AP1000 chosen for four new reactors in China Washington (Platts)--18Dec2006 China chose Westinghouse's AP1000 as the reactor technology for four units to be built in China. Areva had been bidding with its EPR and Atomstroyexport with the AES-92 VVER design. Westinghouse and its consortium partner, The Shaw Group, signed a contract December 16 with China's State Nuclear Power Technology Co. for two units to be constructed at Sanmen in Zhejiang province and another two units at Yangjiang in Guangdong province. The companies did not disclose the value of the contract, but Westinghouse President and CEO Steve Tritch told Platts it was worth multiple billions of dollars. The deal was announced after Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman and Chinese Chairman of National Development and Reform Commission Ma Kai signed a memorandum of understanding on December 16 on the transfer of nuclear technology to China. Tritch said the Chinese want the first units at the sites to be operating by the end of 2013. Crews will begin breaking ground at the two sites next year, he said. President Bush signs bill implementing US-India nuclear agreement Washington (Platts)--18Dec2006 President George W. Bush Monday signed into law a bill to open India's civilian nuclear energy market to technology and fuel from the United States. In a White House ceremony, Bush said the measure would enable India to help meet its burgeoning demand for electricity while providing jobs and other economic opportunities for US companies. "The United States has an interest in helping India meet this demand with nuclear energy," Bush said. The bill, which implements an agreement-in-principal between Bush and India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in July 2005, will prompt greater consideration by India of building nuclear power plants rather than coal facilities, whose emissions contribute to global warming, the president said. As part of the agreement, India also agreed to open its civilian nuclear facilities to international inspection. While Bush said India has operated such facilities safely for years, he added that providing for outside inspection is "an important achievement for the whole world." --Bill Loveless, bill_loveless@platts.com ------------ PBMR approved as supplier in an INPO program London (Platts)--18Dec2006 PBMR Ltd has been approved as a supplier in an INPO program, the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations said December 15. South Africa's Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (Pty) Ltd. is the company planning to build the world's first modular high-temperature gas-cooled reactor at the Koeberg nuclear plant site near Cape Town. Construction on the 165-MW reactor is expected to begin in 2008, and fuel load in 2012. PBMR Ltd. also is marketing the reactor globally. INPO said its supplier program was established and that "excellence in nuclear plant operations cannot be achieved and maintained" without the support of suppliers. PBMR Ltd. had to receive the approval of INPO's board of directors to participate in the organization's program. ------------