Platts - Friday, July 20, 2007 http://www.platts.com ------------ Hungary's Paks-1 nuclear plant boost capacity by 8% Budapest (Platts)--20Jul2007 The 8% capacity increase program of Hungary's Paks Nuclear Power Plant has reached the halfway mark, as the plant's unit 1 has completed the upgrade, and is now producing power at approximately 500 MW, spokesman Istvan Mittler said Friday. This follows the upgrade of unit 4, which was completed in September 2006. The precise nominal capacity of unit 1, until now rated at 467 MW, will be around 500 MW, but the final figure will be determined only after full operational data are available at the end of the unit's startup period. Paks has said the capacity upgrade would boost output at each of its four units to 500-510 MW. The upgrade of Paks-1 was carried out during a scheduled maintenance outage, and the modifications to the unit had been completed when the outage ended in June 2007. The increase in output to 108% occurred in three stages during the unit's restart. First the unit was taken to 104% of its former capacity. After detailed measurements and analysis, output was increased by a further 1% per day on July 16-19. Since Thursday, the unit has operated at 108%. The upgrade of units 2 and 3 are in the preparatory phase, Mittler said. The physical upgrades will occur during planned outages in 2008, and by 2009 all units will be operating at around 500 MW, he said. The capacity upgrades consist of modifications to the primary circuit and an improved fuel design, which allow the units to operate at a higher temperature and increase thermal efficiency. Paks officials also say the modifications and new fuel type will have a positive impact in terms of the ageing of reactor equipment ahead of a planned 20-year lifespan extension for the Paks plant, which has yet to be licensed but has full political support. ------------ Higher second-quarter earnings expected at Entergy Nuclear Washington (Platts)--19Jul2007 Higher earnings are expected at Entergy Nuclear in the second quarter than a year ago, parent Entergy Corp. said July 19 in releasing preliminary earnings guidance. The increase is mainly due to higher revenue because of higher energy pricing and additional available production from Palisades, Entergy said. Entergy completed the acquisition of the 845-MW PWR from Consumers Energy on April 11. Partially offsetting these contributions was the effect on revenues of two refueling outages during the quarter (compared to one the same period last year) and an extended unplanned outage at Indian Point-3, Entergy said. Operation and maintenance expenses were also higher than in second-quarter 2006, Entergy said. Entergy Nuclear, the company's merchant nuclear subsidiary, operates six nuclear units. Entergy Nuclear also manages Cooper for the Nebraska Public Power District. Results from Entergy's five regulated reactors are included in the company's "Utility, Parent & Other" business unit. Entergy said that business unit's operational results are expected to be lower mainly because of higher expenses for operation and maintenance, interest and income tax. ------------ DOE may favor "evolutionary" steps in scaling up new facilities London (Platts)--19Jul2007 DOE might favor "evolutionary" steps in scaling up the reprocessing facilities it builds under the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, rather than making an immediate "leap" to a commercial-scale facility, a department official said July 17. Daniel Stout, DOE's director of light water reactor spent fuel separations, told a National Academy of Sciences panel that when he took the job in January, the "momentum" was to build a plant with a throughput of about 3,000 metric tons heavy metal/year. Now it is "more probable" that there will be "several steps of expansion," gradually increasing the size of the planned facility, he said in an interview afterward. GNEP is a DOE program to develop new types of reprocessing plants and fast reactors. The program has been controversial in Congress and elsewhere, with many saying the effort does not warrant the pace and funding the department has proposed. ------------ BNFL Group's sell-offs boost FY-06/07 profits London (Platts)--18Jul2007 BNFL Group's sell-offs pushed profits to 2.3 billion pounds (US$4.7 billion) in FY-06/07, with some 2.13 billion pounds of that resulting from the sale of Westinghouse Electric to Toshiba Corp., British Nuclear Fuels plc said July 18. A further 112 million pounds in profits came from Areva's acquisition of a 50% equity stake in the BNFL Group's share of Urenco's Enrichment Technology Company Ltd. in July 2006, said BNFL as it presented its results for the year ending March 31. BNFL Chairman Gordon Campbell noted the significant progress in repositioning the BNFL Group of businesses into the private sector in line with the UK government's wishes. "Work will continue with other disposals during 2007/08," he said. BNFL said the sales to Toshiba and Areva enabled BNFL Group to pay a dividend to the government of 1.8 billion pounds. ------------ Japan may move to boost nukes' ability to withstand earthquakes Washington (Platts)--18Jul2007 Japan's regulators are under pressure to order nuclear plant operators to improve the ability of their facilities to withstand strong earthquakes after a powerful temblor near a seven-reactor Tokyo Electric Power Co. facility produced a peak ground acceleration twice that assumed in the plant's design basis earthquake. Tepco cautioned that the readings from three seismograph stations at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant were preliminary, but confirmed expert reports that they ranged from 311 to 680 Gal (centimeters per second squared). A European expert said the design-basis PGA is about 250 Gal. The earthquake measured 6.6 on the Richter scale. A senior Japanese safety expert said the news ensured regulators would keep all seven units down until their seismic design can be verified. The 8,200 MW station comprises half of Tepco's nuclear capacity. Regulators and Tepco agreed that the station's nuclear safety systems responded as designed and safely shut the plant Monday, and that damage to the plant was minor and was confined to storage areas, switchyards and non-safety systems. A European seismic expert said the quake proved the plant was designed with substantial safety margins. Tepco, however, is being criticized by top government officials for failing to reveal the damage promptly enough, for taking 90 minutes to extinguish a transformer fire and for initially reporting no radioactive release. The utility later admitted that about a cubic meter of mildly contaminated water was flushed to the sea. The damage that did occur means one focus of regulatory review will be on whether the strictest seismic resistance requirements need to be extended to parts of the plant, such as switchyards and service water systems that have only been required to meet industrial seismic standards. Safety-related nuclear systems have been subject to stricter standards in earthquake-prone Japan. Those seismic review standards were just overhauled and tighter rules issued in May. --Ann MacLachlan, ann_maclachlan@platts.com --Mark Hibbs, mark_hibbs@platts.com --Margaret Ryan, Margaret_ryan@platts.com ------------ Suez and CEA sign nuclear R&D agreement Paris (Platts)--17Jul2007 Suez and the French Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique signed a nuclear R&D cooperation agreement July 17, marking the first time the CEA has concluded such a pact with a private entity. The five-year agreement, renewable for three-year periods, addresses R&D in the areas of fourth-generation reactors, improvement of reactor performance and security, and waste management and decommissioning, according to a joint press statement. Suez/Electrabel operates seven PWRs in Belgium and has access to 1,100 MW from Electricite de France's Tricastin and Chooz plants in France. Suez spokesman Antoine Lenoir said the agreement is "a further step for us in nuclear power" and underlines his group's "firm intent" to build and operate one or more new nuclear power plants in Europe by 2015-2020. He said the modalities of the CEA agreement resemble those of similar agreements under which the CEA conducts specific R&D under contract to EDF and Areva. Lenoir said CEA chief Alain Bugat noted at the signing ceremony that, until recently, it would have been "unimaginable" for the CEA to sign such an agreement with a private entity. ------------ Spot uranium price weakens again on limited near-term demand Washington (Platts)--17Jul2007 The spot price of uranium continued to weaken, with price publishing companies Ux Consulting and TradeTech reporting declines of $3 and $4/pound respectively. TradeTech dropped its spot price $4 a pound U3O8 to $129/pound, while Ux dropped its spot price $3/pound U308 to $130/pound. The Platts NuclearFuel U308 spot range for this week is $123-$133/pound U3O8, down from $125-$135 the prior week. TradeTech said there is limited near-term demand and several more sellers are making "discreet inquiries" to potential buyers in an effort to sell material. The auction last week of 150,000 kilograms uranium as UF6 by USEC apparently drew only "limited interest" from potential sellers, TradeTech reported late Friday. Ux Monday said the stock market adage of "Sell in May and go away" seems more applicable to the uranium market lately. Buyers have seemed to disappear since uranium prices peaked in late May/early June, as price has fallen for three consecutive weeks, it said. But some sellers have gone away as well, it said, possibly electing to hold their material until the price perhaps strengthens this year or next. Other sellers have lowered prices to induce sales, as was evident last week as offers fell to the $130 level, it said. But one analyst said the current weakness in the spot price should not be interpreted by buyers as indicating a long-term trend. In the longer-term market, there is still upward pressure because of uncertainty over the timing of new production, the analyst added. The current long-term price, according to both TradeTech and Ux Consulting, is $95/pound U3O8. --Mike Knapik, newsdesk@platts.com ------------ US House passes $31.6-bil 2008 energy and water spending bill Washington (Platts)--17Jul2007 The US House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a $31.6-billion 2008 energy and water spending bill by a 312-112 vote. The bill would provide a significant increase in funding for solar energy, biofuels and other clean-energy technologies, as well as $1 billion in funds for members' priority projects. The vote margin would be sufficient to withstand President Bush's threatened veto of the measure, and any spending bill that significantly exceeds his budget request. The bill would provide the Department of Energy with $25.2 billion for fiscal 2008, an increase of $1.1 billion over the current funding level and $480 million more than DOE requested. Renewable energy programs would receive $632 million more than the Bush administration request. The bill would also increase funding for various clean-coal programs, providing these initiatives with $709 million, or $142 million more than DOE requested. DOE science programs would also see increased funding, especially initiatives that use state-of-the-art "supercomputers" to model the effects of global warming. The bill funded some of the Bush administration's nuclear energy priorities, but not others. The Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, which is designed to spur a renaissance in civilian nuclear energy through the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel and other means, would receive only $120 million compared with the administration's $405 million request. The proposed federal nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada would receive all of the administration's requested $494 million, however, despite the project's low political clout since Nevada Democrat and Yucca opponent Harry Reid assumed the Senate's top job earlier in 2007. Meanwhile, a group of Republicans failed to eliminate all or part of a $1 billion earmarks package inserted into the bill by unanimous consent after it was approved by the appropriations committee. Appropriators opted for a post-committee approach to attaching earmarks to the measure so they can receive extra scrutiny, Appropriations Chairman David Obey, Democrat-Wisconsin has said. The amendment by Representative John Campbell, Republican-California, that would have struck the entire earmark package, was defeated on a 39-388 recorded vote. --Jean Chemnick, jean_chemnick@platts.com ------------ Suez, French atomic energy agency to cooperate on nuclear R&D London (Platts)--17Jul2007 Franco-Belgian Suez and the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) have signed a deal to cooperate in research and development in the nuclear energy sector, Suez said in a statement Tuesday. The deal is for five years, and will be renewable for three-year periods. It covers: research and studies on fourth-generation nuclear reactors, improvement of reactor performance and security, waste management and decommissioning. Suez says that it has the expertise and skills to cover the entire nuclear energy value chain: design and construction, operation, maintenance, waste management, and decommissioning. It owns and operates two nuclear electricity production sites in Belgium (Doel and Tihange). In France, the group also has capacity of 1,100 MW at the Tricastin and Chooz nuclear power plants. Research and development in all areas of nuclear energy are at the core of CEA's work, the statement said. CEA participates in international research programs to design the nuclear reactors and fuels of the future that will guarantee more economical and secure production, while generating less waste. At its Marcoule installation, CEA is managing the largest decommissioning site in France. ------------ Vattenfall makes personnel changes after Kruemmel fire Washington (Platts)--16Jul2007 Vattenfall has made personnel changes in response to last month's events at the Kruemmel BWR, the company said July 16. In a prepared statement, Vattenfall Europe AG said that after discussing the matter with Vattenfall top management in Sweden, Bruno Thomauske, who headed Vattenfall's nuclear generation activities in Germany as the CEO for Vattenfall Europe Nuclear Energy, VENE, was "released" from his duties and replaced "indefinitely" by Reinhardt Hassa. Until now, Hassa had been in charge of power generation at Vattenfall Europe, the parent company of VENE. Johannes Altmeppen, the communications director at Vattenfall Europe, tendered his resignation, the company said. Last week, Vattenfall had announced other personnel changes in its public affairs department under Altmeppen, in response to criticism about how the company responded to a transformer fire that shut Kruemmel on June 28. The unit is still offline. Regulators last week launched an investigation into the incident, which, they said, might result in Vattenfall's operating license being suspended indefinitely. ------------ Swedish Vattenfall denies reports of German nuke hand-over: CEO London (Platts)--16Jul2007 The Swedish utility Vattenfall is not considering handing over its stake in German nuclear power plants following a fire at its 1,316-MW Krumel plant on June 28, the company's CEO Lars Josefsson told Platts Monday. Josefsson denied German media reports that the company has already held talks with E.ON over the transfer of its stake in nuclear power plants to the German utility. The Krummel and Brunsbuttel units are already run jointly by the two companies. The CEO said: "Such reports are totally false. There haven't even been thoughts of such a thing and I don't know why the media is reporting it without even asking us about it first." The utility's German subsidiary Vattenfall Europe has been heavily criticized over the company's running of nuclear plants and there are investigations underway in both the federal government and the responsible state government of Schleswig-Holstein which could lead to a withdrawal of Vattenfall's accreditation to run nuclear power plants in Germany. According to the German Sunday paper "Tagesspiegel am Sonntag," Vattenfall Europe's CEO Klaus Rauscher will make decisions on "considerable personnel changes" of Vattenfall Europe's management "early this week," including the replacement of the company's nuclear director Bruno Thomauske. ------------ US NRC seeks technical assistance for regional inspections Washington (Platts)--13Jul2007 The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking technical assistance for regional inspections, the agency said in a Thursday presolicitation notice. NRC said it intends to issue a contract, beginning around December, for a base period of two years with options to extend annually for up to three more years, for "continued expert technical assistance to support regional baseline inspections." Beckman and Associates is the current contractor, NRC said. Component design bases inspections represent 90% of the inspections currently requiring contractor support. About 10% are triennial fire protection inspections, NRC said. The closing date for receiving proposals will be on or about August 27. --Steven Dolley, steven_dolley@platts.com ------------ Dominion to request 80 MW power uprate for Millstone-3 Washington (Platts)--13Jul2007 Dominion is requesting an 80 megawatt power uprate for Millstone-3, spokesman Peter Hyde said July 13. The application requesting the uprate at the 1,206-MW PWR will be sent to NRC by early next week, Hyde said. Minor modifications of some instrumentation and "small turbine-driven systems," and the addition of "a little bit more fresh fuel" to provide additional energy in the core, will be undertaken, Hyde said. The uprate will be implemented during Millstone-3's fall 2008 refueling outage, subject to NRC approval, Hyde said. Millstone-2 was uprated in 1979, he said. ------------ German state plans to revoke Vattenfall's nuclear accreditation London (Platts)--13Jul2007 The German state of Schleswig-Holstein is investigating legal options to revoke Vattenfall Europe's nuclear reactor accreditation, the state's social minister, Gitta Trauernicht, said Friday in state parliament. Trauernicht, who is responsible for nuclear safety in the state, said that in the light of the fire at Vattenfall Europe's 1,316-MW nuclear reactor Krummel on June 28 and several incidents that followed it was open whether Vattenfall was still a reliable nuclear power plant operator. "Our goal is clear: Krummel stays off the grid," Trauernicht said. The minister said the focus of the legal investigation was on the "course of action [during the fire], the organization and communication in the control room of the Krummel reactor." Trauernicht said that public safety required the investigation. The minister also said: "[I]t is a fact that Vattenfall's information policy has destroyed public and political trust in its reliability." And she added: "Talk by Vatttenfall's board of a political campaign against Vattenfall is scandalous considering the amount of incidents which had to be reported and the contradictions." Krummel was taken off the grid in an emergency shut-down after a fire in a transformer station on June 28. Vattenfall Europe has been criticized by the German government for "misconduct" in handling the fire and for its information policy after the incident. The federal environment ministry called Vattenfall Europe's conduct of the matter as having been "totally inadequate." The case is being investigated by the federal environment ministry and federal parliament's environment commission. Vattenfall Europe has defended its information policy, saying it reported all incidents to the responsible authorities as soon as possible and within legal time frames. ------------