Platts - Thursday, July 12, 2007 http://www.platts.com ------------ OPG probing tritium contamination in heavy water shipment Ontario (Platts)--12Jul2007 Ontario Power Generation is investigating how part of a shipment of heavy water became contaminated by a small amount of tritium, the company said July 11. The tritium, contained in a single 45-gallon barrel, was shipped by OPG's commercial products division from its Darlington generating station to an unidentified customer. OPG spokesman John Earl said July 12 that the small shipment of several barrels was to be pure heavy water and that the discovery represents a quality control issue. The commercial division provides both radioactive and non-radioactive products to customers for medical, academic and industrial uses. ------------ Vattenfall's Kruemmel BWR likely to be offline until late August London (Platts)--12Jul2007 Vattenfall's Kruemmel BWR will likely be offline at least through late August, nuclear safety sources told Platts July 11. Kruemmel has been offline since it scrammed June 28 following a short circuit and a transformer fire. Following a meeting with owner Vattenfall Europe AG held July 9, Sigmar Gabriel, Germany's head federal regulator, and state regulatory officials have vowed to keep the unit offline until the safety significance of the June 28 event is probed and any regulatory actions are taken. Regulatory sources said July 11 that the reactor will likely remain offline at least until a planned routine maintenance and refueling outage, scheduled for early August, is carried out. A week ago, regulators had proposed that the outage be carried out then while investigation of the transient was under way. Now, however, regulators believe that the investigation into the background of the June 28 event may take more time. ------------ Vermont lawmakers fail to override veto of nuclear power tax bill Charlottesville, Virginia (Platts)--11Jul2007 Despite a recent plea by former Vice President Al Gore, Vermont lawmakers Wednesday failed to muster enough votes to override Governor Jim Douglas' veto of a bill that would have taxed nuclear power to pay for energy efficiency programs. The state House vote in favor of an override was 86 to 61, 12 votes shy of the two-thirds majority needed. Gore had entered the fray over bill (H.520) in late May when he endorsed the measure in a video conference aired in six Vermont towns. Entergy Vermont Yankee, which supplies one-third of Vermont's power, had lobbied heavily against the legislation, saying it would add $25 million to the nuclear power plant's tax bill over the next five years. The money would have been used to expand the offerings of Efficiency Vermont, a non-profit provider of efficiency services, to begin providing heating efficiency programs. Brian Cosgrove, Entergy's manager of government affairs, praised Wednesday's vote, saying it reflected bipartisan support for Douglas' veto." The bill passed the House in April and Senate in May. Douglas,a Republican, vetoed the measure on June 6. ------------ California nuke backers may ask voters to lift ban on new plants Washington (Platts)--11Jul2007 A California state lawmaker and a group of developers hoping to build a nuclear plant near Fresno, California, want to ask the state's voters to lift a 31-year-old ban on new nuclear plants. In a statement late Tuesday, Assemblyman Chuck DeVore and the Fresno Nuclear Energy Group said they launched an effort to collect the 500,000 signatures need to quality the referendum for the state July 2008 ballot. DeVore and the Fresno group said they submitted the measure Tuesday to the state attorney general for ballot title and summary. "California is the most energy efficient state in the US, but we run the very real risk of running short on power as we try to meet ambitious greenhouse gas reduction mandates," DeVore said in a statement. "Modern nuclear power will allow us to add jobs while improving the environment--there are really no other options capable of generating the large amounts of power we need." DeVore in February introduced a bill in the legislature that would repeal the state's 1976 ban on new nuclear plants. DeVore said then that federal efforts to dispose of high level nuclear waste are "well underway" and a disposal site will be available by the time a new plant begins operating. The state's ban on new nuclear plants was in large part the result of concerns over the lack of a permanent waste storage solution. The state's two largest utilities are also considering the nuclear option. Southern California Edison President John Fielder earlier this year said his company is tracking developments in the nuclear industry and may consider building a plant in the next 10 to 20 years. And Pacific Gas & Electric CEO Peter Darbee also said his company would welcome a partner to invest in nuclear generation outside of California. ------------ Former NRC Commissioner Merrifield hired by Shaw Group Washington (Platts)--11Jul2007 Former NRC commissioner Jeffrey Merrifield was hired by the Shaw Group as a senior vice president in the company's Power Group, Shaw said July 11. A two-term commissioner who was at the agency almost nine years, Merrifield left in late June without disclosing his future plans. Merrifield will work in the Power Group's headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina and report to the group's president, Richard Gill. J.M. Bernhard, chairman/president/CEO of Shaw, said in a statement that Merrifield would bring "valuable regulatory and legislative experience" to the company. ------------ Areva announces several executive appointments London (Platts)--11Jul2007 Areva announced several executive appointments July 9. Sebastien de Montessus was appointed executive vice president of the company's Mining Business Unit. Claude Jaouen was named deputy senior vice president, Plant Business Unit. Jaouen remains executive vice president of Areva responsible for optimization of group engineering activities. Christian Petit will replace Jaouen as chairman/CEO of SGN, the company's engineering subsidiary. Petit was also named executive vice president of Areva's Engineering Business Unit. Finally, Patrick Herbin-Le Duc has been appointed deputy CFO of Areva and CFO of Areva NC (the former Cogema). ------------ Areva announces several executive appointments London (Platts)--11Jul2007 Areva announced several executive appointments July 9. Sebastien de Montessus was appointed executive vice president of the company's Mining Business Unit. Claude Jaouen was named deputy senior vice president, Plant Business Unit. Jaouen remains executive vice president of Areva responsible for optimization of group engineering activities. Christian Petit will replace Jaouen as chairman/CEO of SGN, the company's engineering subsidiary. Petit was also named executive vice president of Areva's Engineering Business Unit. Finally, Patrick Herbin-Le Duc has been appointed deputy CFO of Areva and CFO of Areva NC (the former Cogema). ------------ Palo Verde-1 unlikely to restart before July 14 Washington (Platts)--10Jul2007 Palo Verde-1 probably won't go back online until July 14, Arizona Public Service Co. spokesman Mark Fallon said July 9. The 1,428-MW PWR began a refueling and maintenance outage May 19 that had been expected to take less than 40 days to complete. However, Fallon said that the unit would not be restarted until a problem with a safety injection check valve has been corrected. The unit is one of three reactors at the Palo Verde station, which has a combined gross generating capacity of 4,224 MW. ------------ Progress chooses Westinghouse reactor for potential Florida nuke Washington (Platts)--10Jul2007 Progress Energy Florida has chosen Westinghouse Electric's AP1000 offering as its chosen reactor for any potential future expansion of its nuclear fleet, the utility said Tuesday. Progress Energy has named a site in southern Levy County as the preferred location for potential nuclear expansion in Florida. "Progress Energy Florida is committed to the safety and security of our plants, and the Westinghouse AP1000 incorporates state-of-the-art technology in its design," said Danny Roderick, vice president of nuclear projects and construction. The AP1000 is a 1,100-MW reactor. A decision on whether to build a plant remains at least a year away, Progress said. The company anticipates filing a need case with the Florida Public Service Commission in early 2008, it said. If the decision is to move forward with the plant, site preparations could begin as early as 2010, construction could begin in 2012, with commercial operation scheduled for 2016, it added. ------------ German ministry slams Vattenfall's 'misconduct' of Krummel fire London (Platts)--10Jul2007 Germany's environment ministry sees the cause of a fire at Vattenfall Europe's 1,316-MW nuclear reactor Krummel on June 28 in the facility's technology and misconduct by staff, the ministry said Tuesday in a statement. After a meeting with the social ministry of the state of Schleswig-Holstein on Monday, the responsible authority for nuclear power in that state, the federal ministry said it "sees clear signs of misconduct by the reactor's staff." "It is apparent that the [reactor's] staff did not act according to the guidelines during the time of the emergency shut-down [of Krummel]," the ministry said. It added: "The cause and magnitude of this misconduct require further clarification." The ministry said that before all questions are "completely clarified" concerning possible deficits in the facility's technology and the utility's reliability, Krummel will not be allowed to go back on the grid. The cause of the fire on June 28 was a short-circuit in one of the reactor's two transformer stations. According to the ministry, an emergency shut-down of the reactor "would not have been necessary" had the staff reacted according to guidelines. "In this case, the reactor could have been taken off the grid in a controlled manner and not an emergency shut-down," the ministry said. The emergency shut-down caused a loss of pressure and change in the fill-level of Krummel's cooling water "which can be the forerunner of severe disturbances or accidents," the ministry said. After prior criticism of Vattenfall Europe's information policy of the incident, the environment ministry again criticized Vattenfall Europe for its handling of the incident as "totally inadequate." According to the statement, "neither the shift-leader during the incident nor the reactor controller were present during the meeting with the federal ministry despite explicit request." This behavior, the ministry said, "is not acceptable." ------------ Kazatomprom poised to buy 10% of Westinghouse Bonn (Platts)--9Jul2007 Kazatomprom said it is close to closing a deal to buy 10% of Westinghouse. A spokeswoman for the Kazakh state-owned uranium and nuclear company said the acquisition from Toshiba would provide "the possibility to sell our products for nuclear fuel for Westinghouse plants." Toshiba owns 77% of Westinghouse Electric, Shaw Group 20% and Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries 3%. In October 2006, they paid British Nuclear Fuels plc a total of $5.4 billion for the vendor company. Japanese media reports said Kazatomprom would pay between $486 million and $527 million for the 10% stake and that the deal was expected to be closed this month. Industry sources said it would give Westinghouse direct access to uranium for new nuclear power plants and Kazatomprom access to technology from Westinghouse and Toshiba. ------------ Plans for new Ignalina plant moved ahead July 6 London (Platts)--9Jul2007 Plans for a new Ignalina plant moved ahead July 6, with Prime Ministers of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia asking their national utilities to proceed with formation of a company to invest in and manage the project. The prime ministers were meeting in Vilnius and were to have been joined by Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, whose country will also participate in the project. Kaczynski's visit was cancelled at the last minute and no reason was given publicly. The countries hope to have a tender for the plant by early 2009. ------------ Regulator supports extending licenses for Loviisa-1, -2 Stockholm (Platts)--6Jul2007 Loviisa-1 and -2's operating licenses should be extended for 20 years, the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, or STUK, said in a statement to the government July 6. An extension would mean the units would run for 50 years each, until 2027 for Loviisa-1 and 2030 for Loviisa-2, assuming there are no problems that would cause permanent shutdown before then. STUK said it believes that the units can operate safely, but will require two major safety reviews for the plant during the extended lifetime. The government makes the final decision on licensing, and is expected to approve the extension soon. ------------