Platts - Friday, April 06, 2007 http://www.platts.com ------------ Report finds Davis-Besse crack rate growth faster than estimated Washington (Platts)--5Apr2007 The main crack at Davis-Besse was growing much faster than previously estimated, according to a report from a consultant hired by operator FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. The report was commissioned as part of the company's insurance claim to recover some of the more than $600 million in costs for replacement power and for operations and maintenance during a two-year shutdown of the plant, Fenoc spokesman Todd Schneider said April 5. During a 2002 refueling and inspection outage, plant personnel discovered that boric acid leakage from cracks in reactor pressure vessel head nozzles had caused severe degradation of the vessel head. NRC received the report from Fenoc last month and publicly released it April 5. One of the report?s conclusions is that the degradation was not readily detectable during a 2000 refueling outage because the growth of the nozzle crack was relatively slow and then accelerated in fall 2001. NRC Region III spokesman Jan Strasma said April 5 that the agency was studying the report but "at this point we see nothing that changes our previous conclusions" that led the NRC to keep the reactor out of service and impose a $5.45 million fine. ------------ German nuke transport firm NCS to be sold to France's CIE Daher London (Platts)--5Apr2007 German nuclear transport firm NCS will be sold by German Rail to the French firm CIE Daher, NCS announced to its customers April 3. According to NCS, the intended sale will include all of the subsidiaries of Nuclear Cargo & Service GmbH, including its holding in the US firm TLI. The sale will be final pending approval by the board of directors of German Rail and the Federal Ministry of Transport. Approval is expected in a matter of weeks, the firm said. CIE Daher is a transport firm with experience in logistics for military, chemical, and nuclear cargos, and in 2006 recorded sales of 450 million euros. Current NCS owner German Rail, sources said, is selling off diversification investments in preparation for an anticipated floating of shares on the German stock exchange. ------------ More work needed, but Palo Verde nuke can turn things around: NRC Washington (Platts)--4Apr2007 Improvements are being made at the Palo Verde nuclear power plant in Arizona, but there still are instances where crews address symptoms, not the root cause, of problems and where incomplete answers are accepted, US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region IV Administrator Bruce Mallett said Wednesday. But Mallett told members of the Arizona Corporation Commission that he believed the Arizona Public Service plant would be able to turnaround its performance. Arizona regulators called the meeting to hear NRC's perspective on problems that earlier in 2007 saw Palo Verde-3 slip a notch in NRC's performance assessment, subjecting the station to a higher level of NRC oversight. Responding to a question from the ACC, Mallett said that neither NRC nor APS would allow the situation at Palo Verde to deteriorate to the point where the three-reactor station was moved into NRC's lowest ranking -- unacceptable performance -- which could require a shutdown until issues are addressed. There is a wide margin between where Palo Verde is now and column 5, he said. The plant, roughly 50 miles outside Phoenix, now has three NRC resident inspectors. Mallett said he anticipates a fourth inspector will be assigned to the station for at least a year. --Elaine Hiruo, elaine_hiruo@platts.com ------------ Comanche Peak union workers reschedule contract vote Washington (Platts)--4Apr2007 Union workers at Comanche Peak rescheduled a vote on a new 16-month contract to April 4-5, union negotiator George Crawford said this week. Members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 20 had been scheduled to vote April 2 on the new contract that the union and TXU Corp. tentatively agreed to last week. However, union members postponed the vote and called in Crawford instead to answer questions. Crawford said there appears to be a lot of interest in the fact that a new contract will have to be negotiated for new workers hired at the nuclear power plant after the pending contract is ratified. The union notified TXU March 25 that it would strike in 30 days if a new contract was not in place by then. The two-reactor Comanche Peak nuclear plant has a total generating capacity of 2,430 MW. ------------ FP&L identifies potential site for new reactor Washington (Platts)--3Apr2007 Florida Power & Light said it has identified Turkey Point as a potential site for a new nuclear reactor. In an April 3 statement, FP&L said it has been evaluating more than 12 potential sites. FP&L already operates two 760-MW PWRs at the Turkey Point site. A decision to build is not expected for several years, the company said. FP&L included the information about potential new nuclear generation in the updated 10-year resource plan it submitted to the Florida Public Service Commission April 3. FP&L announced in May 2006 that it wanted to possibly pursue new nuclear generation in Florida. ------------ Russia to build at least 3 nuclear units/year from 2015: official Moscow (Platts)--3Apr2007 Russia plans to build a minimum three nuclear power units per year from 2015 to meet its goal of raising the share of nuclear power in the country's energy balance to 25% by 2025 from 16% at present, the head of Russia's federal atomic agency Sergei Kiriyenko said Tuesday. The country intends to build at least two new nuclear units annually starting from 2007 and increase the pace of the construction up to three units per year from 2015, raising it to four units per year later, Kiriyenko told an energy forum in the Kremlin. Kiriyenko said that Russia had built only three new units over the last 15 years. The country's nuclear sector would shrink to 2.5% of the total energy balance by 2025, if it built new units with the similar pace, he said. In 2006, ten Russian nuclear power stations--including 31 generating units--produced a record 154.7 TWh, or about 16% of Russia's electricity. The most recent generating unit, at the Kalininskaya nuclear power station, became operational in December, 2004. "We are to commission new units starting from 2012 as it takes about five years to build a unit," Kiriyenko said. By that time, the nuclear sector would become competitive on Russia's market, due to a recent governmental decision to raise gradually domestic price for gas up to international levels by 2011-2012, he said. Currently, more than 50% of Russia's electricity is based on gas generation, with hydro and nuclear sectors being limited by low domestic prices for gas, he added. ---Nadia Rodova, nadia_rodova@platts.com ------------ NRC Commissioner McGaffigan withdraws resignation offer Washington (Platts)--2Apr2007 NRC Commissioner Edward McGaffigan has withdrawn his offer to resign from the agency because the treatment he is undergoing for metastatic melanoma has been effective. In a March 27 letter to the White House, McGaffigan said there has been a "significant improvement in my health prospects" since he notified President George W. Bush in early January that he would step down once a successor was confirmed. An NRC spokesman told Platts April 2 that McGaffigan's treatment has slowed the progression of the disease, and he feels well enough to continue serving. ------------ Tentative agreement on union contract reached at Comanche Peak Washington (Platts)--30Mar2007 A strike at Comanche Peak could be averted under a tentative contract agreement the union announced March 30. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and TXU Corp. tentatively agreed this week on a new 16-month contract, union negotiator George Crawford said in an IBEW statement. Crawford added that union members at TXU's Comanche Peak plant will vote on the package April 2. "The union's negotiating committee agreed to support the tentative agreement with a recommendation for approval at next week's vote," Crawford said in the statement. The union rejected TXU's first offer earlier this month. A federal mediator was brought in late last week to facilitate the talks. ------------