Platts - Monday, January 14, 2008 http://www.platts.com ------------ Sweden must build 4 new reactors, replace its existing 10 units London (Platts)--14Jan2008 Sweden must build four new reactors and replace its existing 10 units when they reach the end of their lifetimes, Liberal Party leaders said January 11 in releasing their preliminary climate strategy. Otherwise, the Nordic country will not be able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, they said. Party Leader and Education Minister Jan Bjorklund called for "an immediate decision" by the Riksdag (parliament) to allow construction of new units after elections in 2010. That would require revoking the current ban on nuclear construction. ------------ IAEA to send follow-up mission to Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Washington (Platts)--11Jan2008 The IAEA will send a follow-up mission to the Japanese plant that was affected by an earthquake last year, the agency said January 11. The IAEA team will visit the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa station from January 28 to February 1, the agency said. The delegation was invited by Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, the IAEA said. The IAEA initially visited the site in August, following the earthquake in July, and issued a report on its findings. All seven units at the station remain shut indefinitely. ------------ Reactor power of Ontario's 790-MW Bruce-5 nuke bumped 3% to 93% Houston (Platts)--11Jan2008 Bruce Power has increased the reactor power of its Bruce-5 nuclear power plant by 3% to 93%, the generator said. The 790-MW unit is the third Bruce B unit to be uprated following fuel-loading modifications that allow operators to safely raise the reactor power from 90% to 93%. Earlier power hikes on Bruce-6 and Bruce-7 resulted in 30 MW increases in output. The company added that reactor power on Bruce-8 is expected to be increased by 2009. On Friday, Bruce Power had all six units at its Bruce A and B stations operating at full capacity, generating about 4,728 MW of power. --Emma Clark, emma_clark@platts.com ------------ Areva aim to build 'at least 4 and probably 6 reactors in the UK' London (Platts)--11Jan2008 Areva's ambition is to build "at least four and probably six reactors in the UK," Areva NP president Luc Oursel said January 10 on news of the UK's nuclear power revival. Oursel's comments in a press statement followed confidence expressed by UK Energy Secretary John Hutton at a London press conference that power companies would be showing up at his desk wanting to invest in new nuclear construction and operation. Hutton noted that French utility Electricite de France, or EDF, had earlier reaffirmed that it is looking at the possibility of building four reactors in the UK, either on its own or in partnership with others. "I think others will come forward with similar plans," he said. EDF is sharing the costs of Areva's June 2007 application to have an initial generic design assessment made of the vendor's EPR design. When the application was first submitted, Areva said it had six European utilities considering the EPR for potential deployment in the UK. As of January 10, it said, 11 European utilities are supporting the EPR's initial GDA. That assessment is due to be completed by March. An industry observer said the jump from four to six reactors by the French industry could be designed to take advantage of British Energy's recent announcement that up to six new reactors could be generating electricity between late 2016 and late 2021, under new transmission connection agreements it has negotiated with the National Grid. ------------ DOE awards management-operating contract for Savannah River Site Washington (Platts)--10Jan2008 Savannah River Nuclear Solutions has been awarded a $4 billion, five-year management and operating contract at DOE?s Savannah River Site, the department said January 10. SRNS is comprised of Fluor Federal Services Inc., Honeywell International Inc., and Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. It also includes subcontractors Lockheed Martin Services Inc. and Nuclear Fuel Services Inc. SRNS will assume management and operation of the site in April. The cost-plus award-fee contract is valued at about $800 million per year and is for an initial five-year period with the option to extend it for up to five additional years, DOE said. The contract is for work in three areas: environmental cleanup (including management of spent nuclear fuel, nuclear materials and non high-level radioactive waste), operation of the Savannah River National Laboratory, and National Nuclear Security Administration activities. ------------ UK says energy firms, not government, to fund new nuclear plants London (Platts)--11Jan2008 Britain on Thursday gave the go-ahead for a new generation of nuclear plants to replace the country's existing aging capacity, but business secretary John Hutton told parliament that energy companies and not government would be expected to fund the new power stations. Hutton said Britain would need to replace one-third of its electricity generating capacity over the next two decades, and that nuclear power would boost energy security, reduce the cost of meeting the country's energy goals and help tackle climate change. Britain currently has 19 nuclear reactors in operation, spread across eight power stations. Hutton's speech was the government's response to a five month public consultation on nuclear power, which ended in October 2007. The electricity sector itself has been preparing for a positive announcement, with British Energy signing transmission agreements with National Grid in November last year for four possible new nuclear plants with total capacity of 8.25 GW. Planning applications have not been made by BE. The connection agreements are for a 1.65 GW plant called Bradwell B, a 1.65 GW plant called Dungeness C, a 3.3 GW plant called Hinkley Point C and a 1.65 GW plant called Sizewell C. All the transmission agreements would start on October 31, 2016. The government's consultation, however, may yet be challenged by environmental group Greenpeace, which succeeded in prolonging the consultation process last year and which is opposed to new nuclear build. Earlier in January, an independent group of academics and consultants said the latest consultation lacked thoroughness and could be open to legal challenge. Greenpeace's lawyers will now scrutinize the government's decision. "It will be a few weeks before we decide [whether] to take legal action," Greenpeace spokesman Niall Bennett told Platts this week. The green group has also filed a complaint to the Market Research Standards Council over the consultation. A decision is expected by the MRSC in April, Bennett said. ------------ India must meet conditions before trade restrictions are lifted London (Platts)--10Jan2008 India should be required to meet certain conditions before restrictions on nuclear trade with New Delhi are lifted, more than 100 individuals and organizations said in a letter to members of the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group and the 35-member IAEA Board of Governors. The signers of the January 7 letter, which was released January 9, urged the governments to reject any proposals for so-called India-specific safeguards that depart from the IAEA's standard safeguards arrangements -- for example, by making New Delhi's safeguards commitments contingent on assured fuel supplies for Indian reactors. The letter also said that if the governments agree to lift the current ban on major nuclear exports to India, they should at least "clarify that nuclear trade by NSG member states shall immediately cease if India resumes nuclear testing for any reason." Before countries can sell nuclear goods to India, the IAEA board has to approve an India-IAEA safeguards agreement and the NSG has to approve an exception to its current guidelines. Those guidelines generally prohibit nuclear trade with countries, such as India, that do not accept IAEA safeguards on all their nuclear facilities. A sample letter is on the web site of the Arms Control Association, http://www.armscontrol.org/pressroom/2008/NSGappeal.asp. ------------ NPPD's Cooper set station production record in 2007 Washington (Platts)--9Jan2008 Nebraska Public Power District's Cooper set a station record for production in 2007, generating roughly 6.67 million megawatt-hours, NPPD said January 9. The 801-MW reactor's previous best generation was 6.5 million MWh, set in 1999, it said. Cooper had a capacity factor of 100% power in 2007, "the highest since the station began commercial operation in 1974,?" said NPPD Chief Nuclear Officer Stu Minahan. "Over the past few years, NPPD has made substantial investments in Cooper, enabling us to replace or refurbish some major equipment,?" he said in a statement. "The investments are paying off." NPPD spokeswoman Beth Boesch said Minahan also credits Cooper's staff with the plant's record year and the reactor's "excellent reliability." She added Cooper did not have a refueling outage in 2007. ------------ Exelon's nuclear units set fleet records in 2007 Washington (Platts)--9Jan2008 Exelon's nuclear units set fleet records in 2007 for both capacity factor and net electricity production, the company said January 8. Average capacity factor for the year was 94.5%, the fifth consecutive year over 93%. This compares with a 2006 industry-average capacity factor of 89.9%, the most recent year for which data are available, Exelon Nuclear said. Net electricity production was 132.3 million net megawatt-hours, 955,000 MWh more than the previous fleet record established in 2006, Exelon said. The plants also "recorded their lowest industrial safety accident rate and number of unplanned shutdowns ever," the company said. ------------ Germany should introduce nuclear tax to fuel competition: Greens Cologne (Platts)--9Jan2008 Germany should introduce a tax of 2 euro cent/kWh on fuel rods for nuclear power generation to re-establish the balance between different generation sources, according to a Green party proposal published by Suddeutsche Zeitung. Citing a paper from the opposition party's energy expert Michael Schafer, the newspaper said the suggested tax would create annual income of Eur2 billion, increase costs for nuclear generation and with that possibly enforce competition. The suggestion is based on the trade with emission rights: emitting units receive a certain, limited, amount of emission allowances for free, which in effect caps the time they are allowed to generate electricity at competitive prices. When their free rights run out, the operators have to buy rights on the market. This makes generation from lignite, hard coal and gas units more expensive than nuclear production. However, generators add the additional charges not only to fossil generation but also to nuclear fueling--resulting in billions of euros in windfall profits. A tax on nuclear power would increase cost for nuclear generation, reduce the profits of the operators while not resulting in additional cost for consumers, said the Green party specialist. ------------ Westinghouse to spend $13 million in zirconium plant upgrade Washington (Platts)--8Jan2008 Westinghouse plans nearly $13 million in capital improvements at its zirconium tube plant in Blairsville, Pennsylvania that it says will better position the company's fuel business for a global nuclear renaissance. The new equipment includes two high-speed pilgers and a vacuum annealing furnace at the specialty metals plant, Westinghouse said January 8. Pilgers, it said, are used to manufacture seamless zirconium alloy tubing from extruded raw material. Zirconium tubes are shipped from the Blairsville plant to Westinghouse's Columbia, South Carolina fuel plant where fuel assemblies are fabricated. Westinghouse spokesman Vaughn Gilbert said the new equipment will improve the plant's efficiency and reduce the time needed for repairs. The Blairsville plant currently produces in excess of 12 million linear feet a year of zirconium tubing, Gilbert said. ------------ UK government gears up for positive decision on new nuclear London (Platts)--8Jan2008 UK news media Tuesday reported that the UK government is to endorse a program of new nuclear power plant construction today, with John Hutton, the Business Secretary, announcing the details on Thursday. The likely decision is set to follow the government's public consultation on new nuclear. Support for nuclear has been heavily trailed by former prime minister Tony Blair and his successor Gordon Brown. Both have made public statements on the need to ensure secure, sustainable supplies of low-carbon energy. Most recently, Gordon Brown told 'The Observer' newspaper: "When North Sea oil runs down, both oil and gas, people will want to know whether we have made sure that we've got the balance right between external dependence on energy and our ability to generate our own energy within our own country, and that's about renewables as well as about other things." The electricity sector itself has been preparing for a positive announcement, with British Energy signing transmission agreements with National Grid in November last year for four possible new nuclear plants with total capacity of 8.25 GW. Planning applications have not been made by BE yet. The connection agreements are for a 1.65-GW plant called Bradwell B, a 1.65-GW plant called Dungeness C, a 3.3-GW plant called Hinkley Point C and a 1.65-GW plant called Sizewell C. All the transmission agreements start on October 31, 2016. The government's consultation, however, may yet be challenged by environmental group Greenpeace, which succeeded in prolonging the process last year and is opposed to new nuclear build. Earlier in January, an independent group of academics and consultants said the consultation lacked thoroughness and could be open to legal challenge. The group, called the Nuclear Consultation Working Group and led by Dr Paul Dorfman, senior research fellow at the University of Warwick, said "key assumptions" in the government's approach to the consultation remain open to critical analysis. ------------ China has become a full member of GIF London (Platts)--8Jan2008 China has become a full member of the generation IV international forum, the French Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique announced on behalf of GIF January 7. Full membership in GIF, which seeks to maximize international collaboration in developing next-generation reactor and fuel cycle systems, means that a country participates fully in the R&D actions of the group. China designated the China Atomic Energy Authority and the Ministry of Science and Technology as its implementing agents, the CEA said, adding the agreement will enter into force for China 90 days after the deposit of its instrument of accession. GIF's Framework Agreement now has eight parties: Canada, China, France, Japan, Republic of Korea, Switzerland, the US, and Euratom. Five more countries that signed the GIF charter -- Argentina, Brazil, Russia, South Africa, and the UK have not yet acceded to or ratified the agreement, the CEA said. ------------ House energy committee to conduct review of NRC Washington (Platts)--7Jan2008 The House Committee on Energy and Commerce will "probe breakdowns in NRC oversight" following reports of Peach Bottom security guards sleeping on duty, two congressmen said in a January 7 statement. Michigan Democratic Representatives John Dingell, chairman of the committee, and Bart Stupak, chairman of the panel's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, said in the statement from Dingell's committee office that they "will conduct a comprehensive review of the NRC's operations." Dingell said his committee "would like to know whether it was the repeated notification from a concerned employee or the threat of a videotape showing security workers asleep on the job appearing on the evening news that prompted the licensee to look into" the Peach Bottom allegations. Other NRC issues mentioned in the statement as topics for oversight include nuclear power plant license renewal, licensing of a mixed-oxide fuel fabrication plant in South Carolina, fire protection, and stockpiling of potassium iodide. The statement did not say whether hearings have been scheduled, and a call to Dingell's committee staff was not returned by press time. ------------