Platts - Friday, December 29, 2006 http://www.platts.com ------------ NRC board okays early site permit for Exelon's Clinton Washington (Platts)--29Dec2006 An early site permit should be issued to Exelon's Clinton, an NRC licensing board concluded in a decision released publicly December 29. However, the permit, if issued, should be subject to certain conditions and stipulations relating to items that have not been resolved at this point, the three-judge Atomic Safety and Licensing Board said in its December 28 decision. An ESP, which authorizes site preparation work and limited construction activities toward building a new nuclear power reactor, legally resolves siting and environmental issues and gives a company up to 20 years to begin building. A legally mandated hearing was held November 7-8 in Decatur, Illinois; there were no intervenors in the ESP proceeding. The ASLB decision, which was issued ahead of its projected January timeframe, marks the final step in the licensing process before the NRC commissioners' decision, which is expected by May. The Clinton ESP application was one of three submitted to the NRC in 2003, and it is the farthest along in the agency's review process. Exelon has not announced any plans to build another reactor at the site, which has an operating 1,077-MW BWR. ------------ NRC issues security order for LES enrichment project Washington (Platts)--28Dec2006 NRC issued an order to Louisiana Enrichment Services to take additional security measures at the company's planned National Enrichment Facility. The security measures, imposed December 20 and made public in the December 28 Federal Register, were not released because they contain safeguards information. But an NRC spokesman said the requirements were the same as those issued to fuel cycle facilities in 2003 as "interim compensatory measures." The spokesman said the order "requires the licensee to identify potential target areas of their facility and implement physical security measures accordingly." LES received in June its license to construct and operate a uranium enrichment facility in New Mexico, and construction, which began shortly after that, is projected to finish in 2008. NRC is issuing the order now so that LES "can incorporate such measures into the design and construction of the facility," the spokesman said. NRC said LES must complete implementation of the measures no later than six months before the facility begins operating. ------------ The EC will openly support nuclear power in Jan 10 statement London (Platts)--28Dec2006 The EC will openly support nuclear power in an energy policy statement to be released January 10, according to a report by the Paris daily Les Echos, citing a draft of the statement. The energy "package" is to be presented by Andris Piebalgs, the European commissioner for energy, to the full European Commission and the European Parliament. The document, according to the newspaper report, says nuclear power is "the most developed" of non-carbon-emitting energy sources in the European Union. It also is said to be the least vulnerable to price fluctuations for fuel materials since the price of uranium represents only a "limited portion" of the kilowatt-hour cost of electricity from nuclear plants. Uranium is also widely available geographically with reserves for several decades, the document says. It's the first time that the EC has expressed open support for nuclear, which is supposed to be phased out as a power source in at least three EU states. According to Les Echos, the EC is also proposing a high-level group to set common nuclear safety standards. ------------ Catawba-1 co-owners seek to buy out third partner Washington (Platts)--27Dec2006 Duke Energy Carolinas and North Carolina Electric Membership Corp. will buy out a third partner's stake in Catawba-1 under agreements announced December 27. DEC will pay $158 million for about 72% of Saluda River Electric Cooperative Inc.'s 19% interest in the 1,205-MW Westinghouse unit, while North Carolina Electric Membership Corp. will pay $42 million for the remainder. The total price works out to about $874/installed kilowatt. The transaction, which has to be approved by state and federal agencies, is estimated to close in mid-2008, DEC parent Duke Energy said. Currently, NCEMC owns 56% of unit 1 and DEC owns 25%; their respective shares would be boosted to 62% and 38%. Duke Energy operates the twin Catawba-1 and -2 PWRs in South Carolina. Joint owners of unit 2 are the North Carolina Municipal Power Agency, with 75%, and Piedmont Municipal Power Agency, with 25%. ------------ Areva TA wins contract for six naval propulsion reactors London (Platts)--27Dec2006 Areva TA won a contract for six naval propulsion reactors to equip new- generation Barracuda nuclear defense submarines. The contract was awarded December 22 by the DGA, the French government's armaments procurement administration, Areva said in a statement. The total value of the Barracuda construction program is estimated at 8 billion euros (US$10.5 billion) over 20 years, of which Areva TA's share is about 15%, the group said. TVA was formerly known as Technicatome. Areva said that TA had designed a reactor "specially adapted" to those that equip the existing SNLE-NG submarines and the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, but with "greater autonomy [of] operation and maintenance." Areva said TA will draw on operating experience from the RES nuclear propulsion test reactor under construction at Cadarache. Commissioning of the first of the six new reactor systems is scheduled for 2014, the group said. ------------ NRC oversight of Palo Verde won't change -- for now Washington (Platts)--26Dec2006 Palo Verde is not being moved to a higher level of NRC oversight, at least not now. In a December 22 letter, released December 26, NRC said it was classifying a recent violation, involving the chemical fouling of heat exchangers, as "green," indicating "very low safety significance." NRC had initially rated the finding as "greater than green," but changed to "green" after obtaining information from operator Arizona Public Service and performing risk calculations, NRC Region IV spokesman Victor Dricks said. Palo Verde is already under increased NRC regulatory oversight. A finding more serious than green -- white, yellow or red, in NRC's safety significance characterization -- would have pushed the plant into the most intense NRC oversight short of shutdown. The plant still faces a final decision on two other preliminary white findings. Those findings deal with a different technical issue but result from similar "underlying causes," Dricks said. In the letter, NRC termed the amount of degradation of "key safety systems" as "egregious" and a further example of the types of performance problems the agency has identified at the plant since 2004. ------------ New reactor construction is in jeopardy due to funding Washington (Platts)--26Dec2006 The nuclear industry's plans to break ground for three or more plants by late 2008 or early 2009 is in jeopardy because of problems with the federal government's budget for fiscal 2007 and 2008, Nuclear Energy Institute President/CEO Frank "Skip" Bowman said in a December 18 letter to President George W. Bush. Most government agencies are operating on FY-06 funding levels and might continue to run without an increase for the full fiscal year. In the letter, Bowman said three key areas needed to be addressed. He urged the president to ensure that DOE's Nuclear Power 2010 cost-sharing program for reactor design and engineering work continues to be funded. He also asked that DOE receive enough funds to start up an energy loan guarantee office. In addition, he said, NRC needed congressional approval for its full funding request in order to avoid licensing delays. Bowman told Bush it would be a "fitting legacy for your administration" to have new reactor construction under way while he was still in office. ------------ Nevada petitions against indefinite interim spent fuel storage Washington (Platts)--26Dec2006 Indefinite interim spent fuel storage should not be allowed at the proposed Yucca Mountain repository site, the state of Nevada said in a petition filed December 22 with the NRC. Robert Loux, executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, said in a statement that DOE's proposal for interim surface storage at the Yucca Mountain site could lead to decades of surface storage and violates federal law which, the Nevada agency asserted, "prohibits a large interim storage site in Nevada as long as the state is the proposed location of a repository." The petition is available online at http://www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/news2006/pdf/nvag061222petition.pdf. ------------ CNSC renews Gentilly-2's license, refurbishment plan Toronto (Platts)--22Dec2006 The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission renewed Gentilly-2's operating license and Hydro-Quebec's refurbishment plan for the unit, in decisions announced December 22. The CNSC approved renewal of Gentilly-2's license until December 31, 2010. The CNSC also said that, based on its review of a screening environmental assessment, refurbishing the unit would not cause significant adverse environmental impacts. The environmental decision means the CNSC can move ahead with reviewing Hydro-Quebec's requests for approving the project. Refurbishment would allow the unit to operate until 2035. The 675-MW Gentilly-2, operated by Hydro-Quebec, is Quebec's only power reactor. ------------