Platts - Thursday, October 11, 2007 http://www.platts.com ------------ Shaw Group reports record third-quarter FY-07 net income Washington (Platts)--10Oct2007 The Shaw Group reported record net income in third-quarter fiscal 2007. Shaw said October 10 that earnings for the quarter, which ended May 31, were $54.6 million, up from a net loss of $16.7 million the same time a year ago. The just-reported results include $5.7 million of net income related to Shaw's investment in Westinghouse. Shaw acquired 20% of Westinghouse in October 2006. The company said its backlog of unfilled orders at the end of third-quarter FY-7 totaled a record $13.3 billion, up from about $8 billion a year ago. Third-quarter FY-07 revenues were $1.6 billion, up from $1.2 billion in third-quarter FY-06, Shaw said. ------------ Any ACR-1000 built in the UK to have over 70% UK content: AECL London (Platts)--10Oct2007 Any ACR-1000 built in the UK will have more than 70% UK content, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. said October 9 in its submission to the UK government's public consultation on nuclear power's future. AECL said it is committed the localization target. "Indeed, most Candu plants have traditionally included significant numbers of UK-manufactured components, including pumps and valves," it said. Also, unlike LWRs with their "massive, heavy walled pressure vessels," Candus each contain their fuel in 520 small diameter pressure tubes. These components require small production facilities, not large foundries, and "are excellent candidates for localization," the vendor said. "AECL does not itself manufacture components and has a long history of nurturing small supplier companies," it said, noting its "robust international supply chain." AECL expects UK suppliers to be able to produce ACR-1000 fuel bundles from the inception of an ACR-1000 program, it said. As for the uranium, AECL said that Canada would continue to be a "major, stable and reliable" uranium supplier to the UK. ------------ NRC releases findings on inattentive guards at Peach Bottom Washington (Platts)--9Oct2007 "Multiple security guards were inattentive on multiple occasions" in the security "ready room" at Peach Bottom earlier this year, an NRC inspection concluded in findings released October 9. However, NRC inspectors found no evidence of inattentive guards beyond the 10 members of the one guard team caught on videotape by a whistleblower, nor was there evidence of inattentiveness (often a euphemism for sleeping on the job) at plant locations other than in the ready room, Marsha Gamberoni, director of the division of reactor safety at NRC's Region I office, said at an October 9 press conference in Delta, Pennsylvania, near the plant. The inspectors did confirm that Wackenhut supervisors at Peach Bottom had been notified of the inattentiveness earlier this year but failed to follow up, said Jim Trapp, director of the inspection team. NRC Region I Administrator Samuel Collins said that a review of the guards' work records determined that excessive overtime was "not a factor" in their inattentiveness. Collins said that the inspectors concluded that Peach Bottom's security program "provided reasonable assurance" of security at the plant "at all times." NRC is conducting follow-up inspections and will review operator Exelon's root cause analysis which is due to be concluded at the end of the month, Collins said. ------------ Uranium spot price holds at $75/pound; buyer interest increases Washington (Platts)--9Oct2007 The spot price of uranium is holding at $75 a pound U3O8, TradeTech and Ux Consulting reported, adding that they have seen evidence of increased buying interest at that price. Ux Consulting said late Monday that over the past two weeks spot market volume totaled close to 2 million pounds of U3O8 equivalent. TradeTech said late Friday that while much of the current spot demand remains discretionary, "buyers and sellers appear to have found a price level [$75/lb] where transactions can be concluded." Ux Consulting, however, said that some buyers, especially utilities, are indicating that they require even lower prices "in order to stimulate buying activity on their part." But if utilities won't step in to clear the market of available supply then it appears that others, such as traders, investment funds, and producers, may be willing to buy at the current price. --Mike Knapik, newsdesk@platts.com ------------ UK Government should keep reprocessing option open: Westinghouse London (Platts)--9Oct2007 Westinghouse Electric Co. suggests in its response to the government's consultation with the public on the future of nuclear in a low carbon economy. In its submission to the UK government's Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, or BERR, Westinghouse says it broadly agrees with the government's view that any construction of new UK nuclear stations should "initially proceed on the basis that spent fuel will not be reprocessed." But as the nuclear industry develops -- in the UK and globally -- that position should be subject to review, Westinghouse said. When the UK government launched its consultation in May, it said that spent fuel from any new reactors should be considered as waste and not reprocessed. The government has since clarified that such a stance could be subject to a policy reversal at some point in the future. Westinghouse told BERR that any final decision not to reprocess could fall substantially short of a fully sustainable approach, which is one that would make the greatest possible use of the world's limited fuel resources. Westinghouse said that the relative merits of reprocessing versus direct disposal would become clearer over time as more became known about the availability of global uranium resources and a better picture emerged of the future roles that might be played by fast reactor technologies and the use of mixed-oxide fuel. ------------ National Source Tracking System launch delayed Washington (Platts)--8Oct2007 The National Source Tracking System launch will be delayed by about a year, the NRC said. The start of operations for the NSTS, a national tracking system for monitoring the location and movement of radioactive sources, was set to have begun in November. But NRC said in a regulatory issue summary (RIS 2007-23), released October 5, that "emergent security issues" are causing problems. It now expects the start of operations for the NSTS to begin in fall 2008, at the earliest. Previously, licensees were told they would have to begin reporting to the NSTS by November 15 for Category 1 sources, and by November 30 for Category 2 sources. Under the IAEA's Code of Conduct for the Safety and Security of Radioactive Materials, Category 1 sources are those contained in radiothermal generators, irradiators and teletherapy devices, and Category 2 sources are found in industrial radiography devices or high-dose-rate brachytherapy devices. NRC said it has no firm date yet for when licensees will be required to start reporting on the manufacture, transfer, receipt and disposal of sources. ------------ NRC advisory panel to assess materials licensing risks Washington (Platts)--5Oct2007 NRC set up a special advisory panel to assess vulnerabilities in the agency's nuclear materials licensing program. The panel was established to respond to concerns raised in three recent reports, NRC said in an October 5 statement. The NRC Office of the Inspector General issued a report in March on the agency's approach to security for byproduct material, while the Government Accountability Office and the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations published reports on findings from an undercover investigation of NRC's materials licensing process. All three reports recommended the agency take additional steps to ensure that radioactive materials don't end up being used by someone to manufacture a dirty bomb. NRC said the panel will examine NRC's import, export, specific and general license programs and deliver a report to the agency by early 2008. ------------