Platts - Wednesday, January 23, 2008 http://www.platts.com Sweden's conservatives committed to building more nuke reactors London (Platts)--23Jan2008 Sweden's conservatives are committed to building more nuclear reactors, the Nordic country's prime minister and party leader Fredrik Reinfeldt said at a press meeting January 21. Reinfeldt said it is also his party's goal to officially reverse Sweden's commitment to phasing out nuclear power. The Liberals, who are part of the coalition government that Reinfeldt leads, recently said Sweden should build four more reactors in the near future. Spot uranium U308 price falls as sellers slash offers Washington (Platts)--22Jan2008 Just as uranium prices were showing signs of firming, several sellers slashed their asking price and the spot price dropped by $5/lb U3O8 late January 18 to $84/lb, according to price reporting company TradeTech. Australia's Heathgate Resources, fresh from the settlement of a lawsuit with US converter ConverDyn, is understood to have concluded a deal at $83.50/lb. At least one other seller, believed to be a trader, apparently followed suit and dropped its price. TradeTech said that the two transactions totaled about 200,000 lb. Some in the market said the aggressive selling reflected the fact that some potential buyers would not consider buying material from Heathgate, a General Atomics company, given that another GA company, Nuclear Fuels Corp. is still involved in a lawsuit with US utility Exelon over uranium supplies. Ux Consulting, in a Monday report, lowered its price $3.50/lb to $86/lb U3O8. The company said that $86/lb was the "most competitive offer of which we are aware and which meet our reporting criteria." Ux Consulting said it excludes material if the acceptability of the material "may be encumbered in some way." The company added that there is "a fair amount of spot material potentially available, but for the bulk of it, suppliers are looking for prices higher than the current and even recent level of spot indicators." For more news, request a free trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/index.xml?src=story or subscribe now at http://www.platts.com/infostore/product_info.php?cPath=22_41&products_id=67 Russia offers Bulgaria 3.8 billion Euros loan for new builds London (Platts)--21Jan2008 Russia is offering to loan Bulgaria 3.8 billion Euros (US$5.5 billion) for construction of two 1,000-MW-class reactors at Belene, a spokeswoman for Atomstroyexport, or ASE, said January 18. The spokeswoman was confirming press reports of Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Sofia January 18. As expected, ASE and Bulgaria's national electric company, NEK, signed the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the reactors during Putin's visit, the two companies said in a statement. The contact, valued at about Eur 4 billion, also covers commissioning of the planned plant. Financing for the project is far from completed, however. NEK is still reviewing bids from Belgium's Electrabel, Czech Republic's CEZ, Italy's Enel and Germany's E.On and RWE for a 49% stake in the project. Also, Bulgaria is expected to apply for up to Eur 300 million from the European Investment Bank and up to another Eur 300 million from the EU's Euratom loan program for the Belene reactors. Westinghouse wins $200 mil contract for work at TVA's Watts Bar-2 Washington (Platts)--18Jan2008 Westinghouse Electric Friday said it had won a contract valued at about $200 million to help the Tennessee Valley Authority complete its 1,200-MW Watts Barr-2 nuclear plant near Spring City, Tennessee. Westinghouse, a unit of Japan's Toshiba, said work under the contract includes upgrading and replacing most I&C systems, supplying new reactor coolant pumps, providing steam generator services, replacing and upgrading cranes, conducting probabilistic risk assessments, plant design engineering services and licensing services and safety analysis. The company said TVA estimates the project will last 54 months and it expects to bring unit online in early 2012. Watts Bar Unit 2, a Westinghouse pressurized water reactor, was approximately 80% complete when the utility halted construction in 1985, citing a projected decrease in electricity demand. In 2007, TVA announced that it would complete Unit 2 and that Bechtel Power would lead the engineering, procurement and construction work. Russia, Bulgaria sign Eur4 billion Belene nuclear power contract Moscow (Platts)--18Jan2008 The governments of Russia and Bulgaria on Friday signed a Eur4 billion ($5.9 billion) deal on the construction of the Belene nuclear power plant, Russian news agency Prime Tass reported Friday from Sofia. The agreement marked the official signing of a deal which was made public last autumn, when Russian nuclear agency Atomstroiexport won the tender for construction of two new 1,000 MW units in Bulgaria. Speaking in Sofia, the head of Russia's federal atomic agency Rosatom Sergei Kirienko said that the project could be expanded. "We understand that it doesn't make any sense to limit the Belene construction to two units, this is just the first stage," Kirienko was cited as saying by Prime-Tass. "Its successful completion will allow us to build a third and fourth unit," Kirienko said. Rosatom's Moscow office could not be reached to confirm the information. The first Belene unit is to start operating at the end of 2013 with the second unit to start operating in 2014, according to information posted on Atomstoiexport's website. The Belene agreement is one of a number of deals signed during a visit to the country by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The head of Atomstroiexport, Sergei Shmatko, was part of the Russian delegation, according to an Atomstroiexport statement. Atomstroiexport is the Russian agency responsible for the construction of nuclear plants outside Russia. Siemens and Areva are partners in the Belene project, Atomstroiexport has said previously. --Rachel Graham, rachel_graham@platts.com Domenici wants 'robust' US enrichment capabilities Washington (Platts)--17Jan2008 Senator Pete Domenici says he will work with Congress and the Administration this year to ensure the development of "robust" US uranium enrichment capabilities. Currently, 80% of US enrichment services are imported, and 42% of those imports come from Russia under a US-Russia nonproliferation agreement to convert excess reserves of high-enriched uranium, or HEU, into commercial nuclear fuel, Domenici's office said January 17 in a statement. It added that Domenici, a New Mexico Republican, believes that the US "should encourage Russia to continue to meet the nonproliferation goals embodied in the HEU agreement by providing access to the US market so long as a portion of that material is derived from Russian HEU legacy stockpiles." Domenici issued the comment following a meeting with Urenco and LES on the LES National Enrichment Facility being built in his state. US NRC launches special inspection of Wolf Creek nuke problems Washington (Platts)--16Jan2008 The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday said it is conducting a special inspection at the 1,170 MW Wolf Creek nuclear plant near Burlington, Kansas, in response to problems plant personnel discovered in a safety system that provides emergency cooling water for the reactor. The NRC said operators on January 10 discovered pockets of gas in a pipe that should be filled with water. The pipe is part of the emergency core cooling system that provides water to the reactor during an emergency. Workers shut the plant on January 11 to address the problem. The agency said the problem is believed to have been caused by several leaky valves, as well as a pocket of gas that remained in a pipe since the last refueling outage in fall 2006. The licensee has vented the gas from the piping and is in the process of restarting the reactor, NRC said. "We want to take a look at the way the licensee has responded to the problem," said Elmo Collins, NRC Region IV administrator. "It's possible that the gas pockets may have prevented the emergency core cooling system from being able to perform its safety function had it been needed." The agency said two specialists will review the circumstances related to the problem, the licensee's evaluation of the root cause and the effect it had on the operability of the safety system. The inspection is set to begin Wednesday and will take several days to complete. The team will write a report no more than 45 days after the inspection has been completed. Earlier Wednesday, the NRC reported that the unit has begun exiting its outage and is operating at 1% capacity. Westar Energy, Kansas City Power & Light and Kansas Electric Power Cooperative own the plant. Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating is operator. For more news, request a free trial to Platts Electric Power Daily at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/index.xml?src=story or subscribe now at http://www.platts.com/infostore/product_info.php?cPath=2_31&products_id=47 Duke gets US antitrust OK for raising stake in Catawba-1 nuke Washington (Platts)--15Jan2008 Duke Energy's acquisition of a stake in the Catawba-1 nuclear plant in York County, South Carolina, from the Saluda River Electric Cooperative for $158 million received US antitrust approval Tuesday. In an early termination notice under the Hart, Scott Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, the US Federal Trade Commission said neither it nor the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division intend to take enforcement action against the deal. The move would increase Duke's stake in the plant to just under 39%, compared with its current 25% stake in the 1,145-MW station. Duke Energy Carolinas and North Carolina Electric Membership Corp. (NCEMC) on December 27, 2006 announced a deal to buy Saluda River's ownership interest in Catawba-1. Saluda River currently owns about 19% of Catawba-1, with NCEMC and Duke owning the remaining 56% and 25%, respectively. The agreement, which is valued at $200 million, calls for Duke to pay $158 million for about 72% of Saluda River's interest--about 154 MW--and the NCEMC to pay $42 million for the remaining 28% or about 60 MW. "This transaction provides significant benefits to our customers in the Carolinas," said Duke Energy Carolinas President Ellen Ruff at the time of the announcement. "We're obtaining low-cost and emission-free generation from one of the top performing plants in the country at a price well below new build costs." Saluda River is a generation and transmission electric cooperative serving five distribution cooperatives in northern South Carolina. Saluda River's members are: Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative, Broad River Electric Cooperative, Laurens Electric Cooperative, Little River Electric Cooperative, and York Electric Cooperative. It is a member of the Central Electric Power Cooperative, which is part of the Touchstone Energy Cooperative group. Duke Energy is the operator of both of the units at the Catawba site. The joint owners of the 1,145-MW Catawba-2 plant are the North Carolina Municipal Power Agency (75%) and Piedmont Municipal Power Agency (25%). For more news, request a free trial to Platts Electric Power Daily at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/index.xml?src=story or subscribe now at http://www.platts.com/infostore/product_info.php?cPath=2_31&products_id=47 Ux Consulting drops its uranium spot price on 'measured' selling Washington (Platts)--15Jan2008 Activity picked up last week in the uranium spot market with at least one deal reported at a price slightly below $90/pound U3O8. TradeTech, which kept its spot price at $89/pound as of Friday, said the reported transaction involved about 150,000 pounds of U3O8 and was sold at a price "at or very near" $89/pound. TradeTech said "demand remains highly discretionary with no 'have to' buyers currently active." Ux Consulting late Monday lowered its price 50 cents to $89.50/pound based on the reported transaction. Ux Consulting said the 50-cent drop "reflects the more measured nature that sellers are now showing in the market." --Mike Knapick, newsdesk@platts.com Team of Areva, Suez, Total to propose two EPRs to UAE Paris (Platts)--14Jan2008 Areva, Suez and Total will propose two EPRs to United Arab Emirates authorities, the French companies said after signing a partnership agreement January 14. Under the agreement, Areva would provide know-how "covering nuclear islands and the complete fuel chain," they said in a statement. Suez would contribute nuclear power plant operating experience from its Electrabel subsidiary in Belgium. Total would bring project management experience gained from a long-standing presence in the UAE and the Middle East. Total and Suez are well-established in the region and operate a power/desalination plant at Taweelah that provides about 20% of Abu Dhabi's electricity, the companies said. French officials said it would be at least 2017 before the UAE's first EPR could be operating, stressing the country's need to develop infrastructure and to license the reactor design for construction. An Areva source said the idea is to create a joint venture to invest in the plant. NRC orders SoCal Ed to conduct special San Onofre nuke training Washington (Platts)--14Jan2008 The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday ordered Southern California Edison to develop special employee training after a fire inspector at the San Onofre nuclear plant near San Clemente, California, was found to have falsified records for five years that said hourly patrols were made. The NRC said its confirmatory order, agreed to by SoCal Ed, requires the company to develop special training for its employees that emphasizes the importance of maintaining "a strong nuclear safety culture to prevent deliberate misconduct by workers." SoCal Ed said it will perform an evaluation of "whether certain recent events at its San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station have a common cause, and will implement enhanced training programs as well as additional checks and balances for existing and new employees." --Daniel Guido, daniel_guido@platts.com