Platts - Friday, February 29, 2008 http://www.platts.com ------------ US FERC, NRC to meet to discuss electric grid reliability Washington (Platts)--29Feb2008 US energy regulators plan to meet April 8 to discuss bulk power system reliability activities affecting nuclear power plants, planning for new reactors and cyber security. The session will mark the fourth time members of the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Nuclear Regulatory Commission have come together to talk about issues of mutual concern, and it "underscores the commitment" of the agencies to ensuring grid safety and reliability, they said. The meeting is scheduled to start at 10 am EDT at FERC headquarters in Washington. ------------ Norway to give $5 million for IAEA uranium fuel bank Stockholm (Platts)--28Feb2008 Norway will contribute $5 million toward an IAEA uranium fuel bank and will support the initiative politically, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway Jonas Gahr Store announced February 28 at an international disarmament conference in Oslo. The fuel bank is envisioned as a backup supply of low-enriched uranium for power reactor fuel designed to discourage nations from pursuing enrichment programs. It was proposed by the Nuclear Threat Initiative, NTI, in 2006 and supported by an initial $50 million contribution from financier Warren Buffet. The US government recently pledged an additional $50 million. Counting Norway's pledge, another $45 million is needed to reach the startup target of $150 million. Sam Nunn, NTI's co-chairman, told the conference that Norway's "commitment can help jump-start international support for this project and close the remaining financial gap." The disarmament conference was co-sponsored by NTI, the Hoover Institution, and the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority. ------------ German court rejects life extension of RWE's Biblis-A nuke Freiburg, Germany (Platts)--28Feb2008 The administrative court of the German state of Hesse has rejected RWE's application to extend the life of the Biblis-A nuclear reactor by transferring generation capacity from the Mulheim-Karlich unit, the court said late Wednesday. Under Germany's nuclear phase-out law all nuclear power plants must be shut down after generating power for a certain number of hours, but it can be possible to transfer hours from one plant to another. The decision confirms a verdict of the federal environment ministry last May which argued Germany's nuclear decommissioning act allowed capacity transfer from Mulheim-Karlich only to units named in the act. Biblis-A is not mentioned. Capacity from Mulheim-Karlich, a unit which never came online, can only be transferred to Emsland, Neckarwestheim-2, Isar 2, Brokdorf, Grundremmingen-B und - C and Biblis-B (up to 21.45 TWh capacity only). RWE, which can now appeal the decision and take it to the federal administrative court, has alternatively already applied to extend the life of Biblis-A through capacity from Emsland. A decision remains outstanding. Biblis-A had initially been due to go offline this year but because of an unexpected outage of over a year the expected offline date has been postponed to the end of 2009 at least. Biblis-A is one of the oldest units in Germany and considered to be one of the least safe. ENBW and Vattenfall Europe have also applied to extend the lives of some nuclear reactors. The operators are hoping for a new government in the federal elections next year to overturn the decommissioning act. For similar news, request a free trial to Power in Europe 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=55 ------------ German court rejects life extension of RWE's Biblis-A nuke Freiburg, Germany (Platts)--28Feb2008 The administrative court of the German state of Hesse has rejected RWE's application to extend the life of the Biblis-A nuclear reactor by transferring generation capacity from the Mulheim-Karlich unit, the court said late Wednesday. Under Germany's nuclear phase-out law all nuclear power plants must be shut down after generating power for a certain number of hours, but it can be possible to transfer hours from one plant to another. The decision confirms a verdict of the federal environment ministry last May which argued Germany's nuclear decommissioning act allowed capacity transfer from Mulheim-Karlich only to units named in the act. Biblis-A is not mentioned. Capacity from Mulheim-Karlich, a unit which never came online, can only be transferred to Emsland, Neckarwestheim-2, Isar 2, Brokdorf, Grundremmingen-B und - C and Biblis-B (up to 21.45 TWh capacity only). RWE, which can now appeal the decision and take it to the federal administrative court, has alternatively already applied to extend the life of Biblis-A through capacity from Emsland. A decision remains outstanding. Biblis-A had initially been due to go offline this year but because of an unexpected outage of over a year the expected offline date has been postponed to the end of 2009 at least. Biblis-A is one of the oldest units in Germany and considered to be one of the least safe. ENBW and Vattenfall Europe have also applied to extend the lives of some nuclear reactors. The operators are hoping for a new government in the federal elections next year to overturn the decommissioning act. For similar news, request a free trial to Power in Europe 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=55 ------------ US Senate committee now divided over nuclear waste policy Washington (Platts)--27Feb2008 Reflecting uncertainty over the US Department of Energy's proposed nuclear waste repository in Nevada, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday said there is "no longer a consensus" among its members over government policy for disposing of spent fuel from nuclear power plants. A statement on the Bush administration's fiscal 2009 budget request signed by the committee's chairman, Democrat Jeff Bingaman, and ranking Republican, Pete Domenici, said most of the panel's members look forward to the construction of new nuclear power plants in the US, but differ over options for disposing of the reactors' waste. "Most of our members support the administration's goal of promoting the licensing of new nuclear power plants, and its Nuclear Power 2010 and Generation IV programs supporting that goal," the statement, called "views and estimates," said. "There is, however, no longer a consensus among our members on nuclear waste policy." The DOE program to establish a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada has been reeling since Congress cut its fiscal 2008 budget by $108 million, forcing officials to plan for 500 layoffs. The department has said the cut will cause it to miss a June target for seeking a Nuclear Regulatory Commission license to build and operate the repository. "Some of us continue to support the department's longstanding and statutorily directed efforts to license the Yucca Mountain geologic waste repository, and the administration's request for funds necessary for this purpose," the committee said. "Others, in light of the continuing difficulties in obtaining funding for the Yucca Mountain program, support new approaches to storage and treatment of spent nuclear fuel, including the use of recycling technologies." Other committee members oppose the administration's Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, which envisions recycling spent fuel as a means of promoting nuclear energy globally with less need for waste disposal, the committee said. The uncertainty over nuclear was policy on the committee is a relatively recent development, the panel's Democratic spokesman, Bill Wicker, said. "On Senate Energy, there has always been a broad, general consensus on nuclear waste, a consensus that this year no longer exists," he said. ------------ Entergy submits COL application for possible new reactor Washington (Platts)--27Feb2008 A combined construction permit-operating license, or COL, application for a potential new reactor at Grand Gulf was submitted to NRC February 27 by Entergy. The application for the COL was prepared by industry consortium NuStart Energy Development. The submittal is for a GE-Hitachi ESBWR at the Grand Gulf site in Mississippi, where a 1,320-MW General Electric PWR is operating. Entergy said February 27 that it has made no decision to build a reactor, but seeking a COL would allow it to preserve the nuclear option for the future. Nearly a year ago, the NRC approved an early site permit for Grand Gulf, which allows the site to be reserved for up to 20 years for possible construction of a new nuclear power plant. Entergy also plans to submit a COL application later this year for its River Bend site in Louisiana. ------------ FP&L Turkey Point nuclear units remain shut down, US NRC reports Washington (Platts)--27Feb2008 Florida Power & Light's units 3 and 4 at its Turkey Point power plant are shut down following a transmission grid disturbance on Tuesday, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday morning in its reactor status report. The twin 760-MW nuclear units at Turkey Point, along with at least one natural gas-fired unit at the facility, were shut down on Tuesday as part of a large outage that affected FP&L and other Florida utilities. The nulcear units performed as designed and shut down once the transmission grid was unstable, utility spokesman Alan Griffith said Tuesday. Units 3 and 4, a few miles south of Miami, were shut down at 1:09 pm EST Tuesday, according to an event report filed with the NRC. They are in "hot standby" mode and there is no estimate of when they will exit the outage. FPL's two other nuclear units in Florida, at its St. Lucie facility, were not affected by the extensive outage, which appears to have begun at an FP&L substation. ------------ The UK joins GNEP, the 21st country to join Washington (Platts)--26Feb2008 The UK joined the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership February 26. During a meeting with US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman in Washington, UK Business Secretary John Hutton signed the GNEP Statement of Principles, making his country the 21st to join the group. DOE launched GNEP in February 2006 as an initiative to promote nuclear power in the US and around the world, and to develop new types of reprocessing plants and fast reactors. ------------ Ux drops spot uranium price to $73; TradeTech holds firm at $75 Washington (Platts)--26Feb2008 The spot price of uranium dropped $2 a pound to $73/lb, Ux Consulting said late Monday. TradeTech, in a report on February 22, kept its price at $75/lb. The difference may reflect some uncertainty over how much material is available at the lower price. Last week, it was confirmed that at least one deal took place at $73/lb. But the announcement late in the week by Uranium One about reduced 2008 uranium production at its Dominion mine in South Africa caused at least some sellers to revise their offer prices upward on the expectation that the spot price will rise, several analysts said. This led TradeTech to conclude that the spot price was "holding firm" at $75/lb as of February 22. Ux, however, said that it was aware of material still being offered at $73/lb as of Monday. Ux said that "while the general consensus appears to be that the price is set to increase," some spot sellers "have not universally adopted the view that price is recovering." The Platts spot U3O8 range for the week was $73-$80/lb. ------------ FP&L unable to say when Turkey Point nuke units will return Washington (Platts)--26Feb2008 Florida Power & Light said its Turkey Point 3 and 4 units in south Florida performed as designed and automatically took themselves off the grid after the utility's transmission system was disrupted. Utility spokesman Alan Griffith said each of the units remain in a safe and stable condition. He was unable to say when the units would return to the grid. Employees will conduct walk-through reviews and safety evaluations at the units to ensure they are ready to return, he said. FPL's other reactors in Florida -- St. Lucie-1 and -2 -- were not affected, he said. --Tom Harrison, tom_harrison@platts.com ------------ Oyster Creek's license renewal application on hold Washington (Platts)--25Feb2008 NRC commissioners have put a hold on their decision on Oyster Creek's license renewal application. In a one-sentence memorandum released February 25, the commission told Executive Director for Operations Luis Reyes that it was returning to the staff "without action" a paper (Secy-08-0018) that recommended renewal of Oyster Creek's operating license. The staff completed its review of AmerGen's renewal application last year, concluding that the plant could operate safely for an additional 20 years. Oyster Creek's current license expires in April 2009. Donnie Ashley, NRC staff project manager for the renewal review, said in a February 25 interview that the commission is reviewing an appeal of an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board ruling in the renewal proceeding. The ASLB ruling dismissed a contention by intervenors opposing renewal. Also, litigation between NRC and the state of New Jersey over the renewal is still pending. The commission did not say when it planned to rule on whether a renewed license should be issued. ------------ Southern Nuclear considering additional license submittal Washington (Platts)--22Feb2008 Southern Nuclear Operating Co. said the Vogtle combined construction permit-operating license, or COL, application is expected to be submitted March 31 and another application for a new plant is being considered. But, in a February 8 letter just released, the company cautioned that the Vogtle submittal date might change depending on the outcome of ongoing talks with the Westinghouse/Shaw consortium on "contract issues." Currently, the company is seeking an ESP for its Vogtle site, and will ask for a license to build and operate two AP1000s at that site in the COL application anticipated to be filed next month. Responding to NRC's request for companies to provide notification of any plans for future licensing requests, Southern Nuclear also said it might submit an application for either an early site permit, ESP, or a COL sometime in late fiscal 2010. It did not specify the potential site. ------------ New UK nuclear must provide for decommissioning 'from day one' London (Platts)--22Feb2008 Operators of new UK nuclear generation will be required by law to first establish a nuclear waste clean-up fund, the UK government said Friday. UK business minister John Hutton said in a statment that new merchant nuclear generators must, as a precondition for receiving government approval, set aside money "from day one of generating electricity for their eventual decommissioning and waste costs." Draft guidance released Friday explains how clauses in the government's energy bill published in January that require operators of new nuclear power stations to meet the full cost of decommissioning and their full share of waste management costs would work. Companies would be required to: demonstrate detailed and costed plans for decommissioning, waste management and disposal before they even begin construction of a nuclear power station; set money aside into a secure and independent fund from day one of generating electricity; and have additional security in place to supplement the fund should it be insufficient. A new Nuclear Liabilities Financing Assurance Board is to be set up to assist the minister in ensuring these safeguards, the statement said. "It is in the national interest that the energy industry is able to invest in secure low-carbon energy sources. But it is also in the national interest that we take every step to ensure that the taxpayer is protected from the clean-up costs down the line," Hutton said in the statement. "The energy bill and the guidance published today make clear that companies are liable by law to meet their full costs. Let me be clear--full means full," he added. "Funds will be sufficient, secure and independent, it will be a criminal offence not to comply with the approved arrangements and we are taking powers to guard against unforeseen shortfalls." Included with the draft guidance is an indicative schedule for the government to publish updated estimates of the costs of decommissioning and managing and disposing of the waste from new nuclear power stations. This should enable it to set a fixed unit price for disposal of intermediate level waste and spent fuel. This will be set "at a level over and above expected costs and will include a significant risk premium, to provide the taxpayer with material protection." Hutton said: "We consider that a decision by an operator to proceed in principle with building a new nuclear power station and therefore to request from the government a fixed unit price for waste disposal in a Geological Disposal Facility could come as early as mid-2009." Consultation on the draft guidance will end May 16, 2008. Under the energy bill, operators of new nuclear power stations must produce a funded decommissioning program for approval, including a decommissioning and waste management plan and a funding arrangements plan. ------------ NEI: Four to eight new US reactors likely by 2016 Washington (Platts)--21Feb2008 By 2016, four to eight new us nuclear plants are likely to be generating electricity, with a second wave of new units under construction, Nuclear Energy Institute President/CEO Frank "Skip" Bowman told a February 21 briefing for financial analysts in New York. Bowman said the exact number will "depend on many factors -- forward prices in electricity markets, capital costs of all baseload electric technologies, commodity costs, environmental compliance costs for fossil-fueled generating capacity, natural gas prices, and more." Bowman said that "financial analysis shows, however, that new nuclear plants can deliver electricity in the range of $70 to $80 per megawatt-hour," assuming federal loan guarantees or "supportive rate policies at the state level." He said that "analysis by NEI and others shows that this would be competitive with other options -- coal- or gas-fired." John Rowe, chairman/CEO of Exelon, told the briefing that "a dispassionate assessment of new nuclear plant construction must acknowledge the large financial risk associated with a capital project that may cost around $7 billion and represent a substantial portion of a company's market value." But Rowe said such analysis "also shows that many of the conditions that led to large cost increases and construction delays for many operating nuclear power plants no longer exist, and that the industry has taken steps and created mechanisms to manage and contain those risks." Presentation materials from the briefing are online at www.nei.org/filefolder/Wall_Street_Brief_Script_and_Slides_Final_1.pdf. ------------ British Energy takes offline 635 MW Torness-2 nuclear power unit London (Platts)--21Feb2008 British Energy took offline its 635 MW Torness-2 nuclear power reactor in southern Scotland at 12:10 GMT Thursday, BE spokeswoman Sue Fletcher said. "We took it down manually...it was unplanned," Fletcher said, but she declined to give a reason for the shutdown, due to company policy. BE is also to carry out some routine maintenance work while the plant is offline, she added. The company does not give return dates for such outages. Torness-1, the 650 MW sister reactor of unit 2, was online and available to the grid Thursday, Fletcher said. British Energy also has four nuclear reactors offline, at the Hartlepool and Heysham 1 power plants. The four units shut last October for wire-winding checks and together they can generate 2,360 MW. The company has identified a number of engineering modifications that will be needed to reduce the reliance on the current wire windings. BE expects these units to return between July and December. ------------ EDF financial results up in 2007, but stock price falls Paris (Platts)--20Feb2008 Electricite de France announced better-than-expected 2007 financial results February 20, but its stock price plunged 9.39% on the Paris exchange, to 67.05 euros, on investors' disappointment with the utility's projections for profit growth in 2008 and beyond. EDF said its net income (group share) remained stable in 2007 at Eur 5.6 billion, and net income excluding one-time items was up 10.6% to Eur 4.7 billion, on sales of Eur 59.6 billion. Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) was up 6.1% to Eur 15.2 billion. However, analysts said the proposed dividend of Eur 1.28 a share was disappointing. They also said EDF's net debt at the end of 2007 -- Eur 16.26 billion, up 8.9% from the end of 2006 -- was higher than expected. Chief Financial Officer Daniel Camus said 2008 would be a year of accelerated investments, with a target of Eur 10 billion in operating investments. ------------ Spot uranium prices hold at $75/pound as sellers hold firm Washington (Platts)--20Feb2008 The spot price of uranium remained at $75 a pound U3O8 this week, with both TradeTech and Ux Consulting saying sellers are resisting lowering their offer prices. And while buyers are continuing to look for opportunities to conclude deals at lower prices, there was a growing sense among market analysts that the price gap is closing. Ux Consulting late Tuesday said some buyers are "considering buying as they believe the current price may be primed for a rebound." The price reporting company said that as a result "we may see more buying in the near future." TradeTech late Friday said it was unable to confirm rumors in the market last week of a sale of 800,000 pounds U3O8 at a price of about $65/pound. The Platts NuclearFuel price range for the week was $68- $78/lb U3O8. --Mike Knapik, newsdesk@platts.com ------------