Platts - Thursday, September 27, 2007 http://www.platts.com ------------ Renewables group questions EC neutrality on nuclear power Brussels (Platts)--26Sep2007 A renewable energy group said it was "deeply worried" about the neutrality of the European Commission when it comes to nuclear power. The European Renewable Energies Federation, or EREF, was reacting September 26 to a September 25 EC decision. The EC decision was that there was no illegal state aid involved in the 570-million-euro (US$805 million) export credit guarantee from French export credit agency Coface to French nuclear vendor Areva for the Olkiluoto-3 reactor under construction in Finland. EREF President Peter Danielsson said the EC had turned its back on its own policies and past practices with regard to export guarantees in intra-community EU trade, "for the sake of shielding nuclear from competitive market conditions and in order to fence out non EU competitors. EREF will evaluate the Coface decision once the whole document is available and see what next legal steps should be taken." ------------ Shaw Group to provide engineering services at Perry Washington (Platts)--25Sep2007 The Shaw Group will provide engineering services at Perry for dry spent fuel storage to be constructed beginning in spring 2008, Shaw Group said September 25. Shaw did not disclose the value of the contract, under which it will provide First Energy Nuclear Operating Co. with "engineering and design services for the fuel transfer system, pool-to-pad haul path design, canister pad design and security system design," Shaw said. Fenoc said August 21 that it had awarded a contract to Holtec to provide 16 Hi-Storm 100 casks and MPC-68 storage canisters for Perry, to be delivered in time for loading to begin in early 2010. The storage facility will be designed to accommodate 80 cask systems, Fenoc said last month. ------------ DOE issues conditional agreements for nuclear plant agreements Washington (Platts)--25Sep2007 The US Department of Energy on Tuesday released a conditional agreement that would enable companies building advanced nuclear power plants in the US to obtain federal risk insurance for their projects. The agreements detail the rights and responsibilities of companies eligible for the insurance, which would cover costs associated with delays caused by litigation or regulation. "Conditional agreements pave the way for risk insurance contracts that will provide the first project sponsors constructing nuclear power plants with assistance if they face delays in expanding the use of nuclear energy across the nation," Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said. Bodman announced the availability of the agreements at a meeting in Chicago. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorized $2 billion in risk insurance to promote construction of nuclear plants employing advanced technologies. The law provided the coverage for the first six sponsors of plants, with up to $500 million available for each of the first two plants and up to $250 million on hand for each of the following four plants. The conditional agreement is available to companies once the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has docketed their applications for combined construction and operating licenses, DOE said. The risk insurance becomes available once companies have obtained their NRC licenses and begun construction of their plants. The conditional agreement is part of a process for the risk insurance that DOE approved in August 2006. ------------ Portuguese research reactor converts from HEU London (Platts)--25Sep2007 A Portuguese research reactor has been converted from HEU to low-enriched uranium fuel, DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration said September 24. The announcement on the 1-MW reactor at the Instituto Tecnologico e Nuclear in Sacavem, follows several other announcements in recent weeks on a global effort to convert reactors from high-enriched uranium fuel to LEU, and on a related effort to secure and blend down HEU. The annual conference on the conversion program, known as Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors, is taking place this week in Prague. ------------ NRG submits construction permit-operating license application Washington (Platts)--24Sep2007 Merchant generator NRG has filed an application with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a combined construction permit-operating license for two units at its South Texas Project site, the company said Monday. An NRC spokesman, Scott Burnell, confirmed that the application--the first for a complete COL--had been received. The combined capacity of the two reactor will be at least 2,700 MW, NRG said. The South Texas site houses two currently operating nuclear units. ------------ NRG files COL with NRC for South Texas Project units Washington (Platts)--24Sep2007 NRG filed a combined construction permit-operating license, or COL, application with NRC for two units at South Texas Project, the company said September 24. Scott Burnell of NRC confirmed that the application -- the first for a complete combined construction permit-operating license -- had been received by the agency. The combined capacity of the two ABWR units will be at least 2,700 megawatts, NRG said. The South Texas site houses two currently operating nuclear units. ------------ Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform launched Sep 21 London (Platts)--24Sep2007 A new organization to focus and guide European nuclear reasearch and technology development was launched at the European Commission September 21. The "Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform" will, in the next two years, produce a strategic research agenda and a deployment strategy extending from generation II, or current reactors, to Generations III and IV reactors, according to the "Vision Report" released at the launch conference September 21. There are also plans for a sodium fast reactor prototype by 2020 and an alternative design -- either a lead -- or gas-cooled fast reactor. About 360 people representing government, utilities, industrial energy consumers, and finance and scientific circles attended the conference. A governing board and executive committee are to be appointed October 29 and 30 and a web site will be set up at www.snetp.eu for more information. "I feel really delighted to be here today, looking at the comprehensive representation from all the stakeholders in the nuclear field," said Roland Schenkel, director general of the EC Joint Research Center. "This is the message we should take back ... that here Europe is working together to establish the long-term use of nuclear energy. For me, this is the European flagship." ------------ UK said to have world's largest civilian Pu stockpile London (Platts)--21Sep2007 The UK has by far the largest civilian separated plutonium stockpile in the world, the Royal Society said September 21. The potential consequences of a major accident or security breach to its storage "are so severe" that the UK government should urgently develop a strategy for the plutonium's long term use or disposal, it said. The UK is expected to own around 100 metric tons of separated Pu by 2012, said the society, which is the UK's National Academy of Science. "Indefinite storage in its present form is not an acceptable long-term solution," it said. The "optimal option" is to convert the stockpile of Pu oxide powder into mixed-oxide, or MOX, fuel and burn it in reactors to the spent fuel standard, it said. However, the currently operating Sellafield MOX manufacturing plant won't be available to fabricate such MOX until around 2022/23 because of its existing contracts with overseas customers. An additional MOX fuel fabrication plant will therefore need to be built before that date, it said. Pu immobilization is not currently commercially deployable, it added. ------------ New UK nuclear construction does not need to be subsidized London (Platts)--21Sep2007 New UK nuclear construction doesn't need to be subsidized if standard, accepted international designs are adopted and fossil fuel alternatives "carry the cost of the carbon emissions associated with their use," British Energy told the UK government September 20. It called on the government not to place any restrictions on the amount of nuclear capacity that might be built. Currently the UK relies on nuclear to supply just under a fifth of its electricity and most of the debate has centered on new nuclear construction to replace aging nuclear capacity only. BE also suggested that the government quantify how much new nuclear capacity it believes is required and the timescales for its construction. That would make it "more likely" that industry will make the early investments needed to increase the country's nuclear component manufacturing capability and manpower skills, it said. BE's report to government was its response to the government's public consultation over the future of nuclear power in the UK. The 20-week consultation ends October 10. The government expects to make a decision toward the end of the year on whether to allow the private sector to pursue new nuclear construction. ------------ NRC to conduct special inspection at Peach Bottom Washington (Platts)--20Sep2007 NRC will conduct a special inspection at Peach Bottom to investigate "information that security officers may have been inattentive while on duty" at the plant, the agency said September 20. Plant operator Exelon Nuclear, which announced an internal inquiry September 18, and Wackenhut Corporation, which provides security services at the site, were approached earlier this month by a reporter from WCBS-TV in New York who claimed to possess videotape showing the inattentive guards. Exelon Nuclear's Craig Nesbit said the reporter declined to show it to Exelon unless they agreed to respond to it on live TV. NRC Region I Administrator Samuel Collins said September 20 that the inspection team "will comprehensively assess the Peach Bottom security issues to confirm that the security program is being effectively implemented" and "will also assess Exelon's actions in response to this information." NRC resident inspectors at the plant "have been monitoring the situation and we continue to believe the site is secure," Collins said. More details are in today's issue of Nucleonics Week. ------------