Platts - Friday, April 25, 2008 http://www.platts.com ------------ British Energy's 1,196 MW Sizewell B nuclear plant back online London (Platts)--25Apr2008 British Energy's 1,196 MW Sizewell B nuclear power plant in Suffolk came back online April 15-16, the UK nuclear generator said Friday . The plant had been undergoing a refueling outage since 20 March. "Turbine 2 returned to service on Tuesday 15 April followed on Wednesday 16 April by turbine 1 and is now back supplying enough electricity for around 2 million homes," the company said in a statement. ------------ DOE and TVA to work together on GNEP data Washington (Platts)--24Apr2008 DOE and federal utility Tennessee Valley Authority, or TVA, will work together to provide Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman with the data he will need to determine a path forward by the end of the year for the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership program, DOE said April 24. GNEP is aimed at closing the nuclear fuel cycle through the development and deployment of advanced reprocessing and fast reactor technologies. The five-page memorandum of understanding said that details on such things as specific work activities, schedules, costs and funding will be established in an interagency agreement between DOE and TVA. TVA spokesman Gil Francis said the federal utility will provide a utility perspective on the design, licensing, construction and operation of a spent fuel reprocessing/recycling facility. It also will be involved in the development of business models and analytical work on risk mitigation, Francis said. ------------ US senators urge "fair royalty" on federal-lands mining Washington (Platts)--24Apr2008 Companies mining minerals like gold and uranium on federal lands could find a government royalty tacked onto their operating costs if a group of US senators gets its way. But while a new mining royalty law is already gaining clout on Capitol Hill, the debate ultimately boils down to how big a fee is reasonable. A bipartisan group of senators this week sent a letter to the senate Energy and Natural Resources committee, urging that a royalty be imposed as part of the committee's update of the 1872 Mining Law. "For 136 years, valuable minerals mined on federal lands have been given to private interests for free," said the letter, signed by Sens. Russ Feingold (R-Wisconsin), John E. Sununu (R-New Hampshire), Maria Cartwell (D-Washington), and Judd Gregg (R-New Hampshire). The lawmakers called on the energy committee to levy a "fair royalty" on federal-lands miners and to roll back mining-industry tax preferences to pay for abandoned-mine clean-up costs. "For too long taxpayers have gotten nothing for these valuable minerals, except the tab for costly clean-up of abandoned mine sites," Ryan Alexander, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, said in a statement supporting the effort. "Taxpayers should not be forced to line the pockets of the mining industry. It is time these companies be held accountable for the profits they gain from our taxpayer-owned resources." Last year, the US House of Representatives passed Resolution No. 2262 -- The Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007 -- that imposed an 8% royalty on new mines and a 4% fee on existing operations. Luke Popovich, spokesman for mining-industry trade group National Mining Association, told Platts that his group's members would be willing to support a "modest" royalty based on net revenues, rather than on profits to take into account steeper energy prices and other higher input costs that he said have kept pace with the rising revenues metals and minerals fetch in the current marketplace. But NMA says an 8% federal-mining royalty exceeds what's affordable. Some miners would cede to a fee of roughly 4% for new mines only, excluding those already online, Popovich said. "Existing operations were based on business plans that did not have to consider additional fees paid to the government," he told Platts. The senators also urged the committee to repeal the tax credit known as the percentage depletion allowance, and use the money to fund what the lawmakers said is between $50 billion and $72 billion in costs for cleaning up abandoned mining operations. However, Popovich said the federal government should fund abandoned-mine clean-up with revenues from mining royalties if imposed, rather than by rolling back existing tax credits. --Laura Gilcrest, laura_gilcrest@platts.com ------------ Luminant's Comanche Peak-2 unit is up to full power, US NRC says Washington (Platts)--24Apr2008 Luminant Energy's Comanche Peak-2 nuclear generating unit has exited a refueling outage and is operating at 100% capacity, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Thursday in its reactor status report. The 1,124-MW unit near Glen Rose, Texas, started exiting the outage over the weekend and was at 78% capacity on Monday, increasing output every day of the week. It was at 99% capacity early Wednesday. The adjacent, 1,084-MW unit 1 at Comanche Peak also is operating at 100% capacity, the NRC said. Luminant is the generation subsidiary of Energy Future Holdings, formerly TXU. ------------ Last fuel assembly unloaded from Chernobyl-3 Moscow (Platts)--23Apr2008 The last fuel assembly was unloaded from Chernobyl-3 April 23, leaving all three undamaged Chernobyl RBMKs without nuclear fuel. Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko was at the site for unloading of the last assembly; he was also there when unloading began in December 2005. The fuel unloading was scheduled to mark the 22nd anniversary on April 26 of the Chernobyl-4 accident, which remains the world's worst nuclear power plant accident. The last operational unit of Chernobyl was shut in December 2000. Management of state-owned operator Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant said that, with the fuel unloaded, decommissioning can accelerate. Each of three cooling ponds located next to the reactors contains more than 1,000 fuel assemblies. The old onsite spent fuel storage facility of Soviet design contains more than 17,500 assemblies. A cask storage facility is under construction. During the visit, Yushchenko laid flowers at a memorial in honor of the Chernobyl operators who lost their lives during and after the accident. ------------ Georgia Power's Vogtle-1 unit is exiting outage, US NRC says Washington (Platts)--23Apr2008 operating at 18% capacity, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday in its reactor status report. The 1,109-MW unit in Waynesboro, Georgia, had been shut down since mid-March for a planned refueling outage. There is no estimate of when it will connect with the power grid or reach full power. Unit 1 was expected to increase capacity by 1.7%, to 1,174 MW, during the refueling outage, following approval of the capacity uprate by the NRC in early March. The adjacent Vogtle-2 unit is operating at 98% capacity, the NRC said Wednesday. Operators expect to increase its capacity from about 1,127 MW to 1,173 MW after a fall refueling outage, according to the NRC. The Vogtle facility is operated by Southern Nuclear Operating Co. ------------ UPDATE: German E.ON plans UK nuclear; deal with Areva, Siemens London (Platts)--23Apr2008 German power giant E.ON Wednesday said it hoped to build new nuclear power stations in the UK. The news came as the company revealed it had signed a letter of intent with Areva and Siemens for the construction of nuclear power plants and the development of new nuclear technology. E.ON said the letter was in expectation of the companies cooperating "on the construction of E.ON's new nuclear power stations in the UK." E.ON said that it was hoping to use Areva's 1,600 MW advanced pressurized water reactor EPR and the "conventional island" technology of Siemens to build new plants in the UK. E.ON also agreed to collaborate on developing further Areva's SWR 1000 boiling-water reactor, which could have power generation capacity in the range of 1,250 MW. "Together with the EPR, this reactor is currently regarded as offering maximum safety for the use of nuclear power," E.ON said. The company plans to use this model for its new intermediate size nuclear power stations. E.ON will work with Siemens on the conventional island of this reactor. In addition, E.ON and Areva are entering into a long-term partnership in service and maintenance for existing and new nuclear power stations. E.ON UK, the company's offshoot in the UK, had previously told Platts it as an "investor in waiting" in new nuclear power. Market watchers had wondered why the company did not seem very interested in bidding for nuclear generator British Energy, which E.ON's German rival RWE is said to be studying a bid for. Electricite de France is also looking to acquire British Energy, which has valuable sites for new build. E.ON earlier this month issued a stock-market statement retracting comments one of its spokesmen had made saying that the company was not interested in British Energy. The retraction implied E.ON might be interested. The latest statement certainly confirms the company plans new nuclear in the UK, although this might not involve bidding for British Energy. There are other potential sites. E.ON UK's CEO Paul Golby said in a statement: "It's clear that a new generation of nuclear power stations will ensure that the UK will have a secure and reliable source of low-carbon power for decades to come and E.ON is right at the forefront of those plans." "We firmly believe nuclear power will be a key ingredient in the UK's generation mix," he said. Wulf Bernotat, CEO of E.ON as a whole, said: "As a European leader in nuclear power, and with an excellent performance record, E.ON is keen to play a leading role in the UK's new build program." ------------ French review examines nuclear site-leukemia relationship Washington (Platts)--22Apr2008 The recent German study of cancers around nuclear sites is the only one that identifies a clear relation between nuclear facility proximity and excess incidence of childhood leukemia, France's Institute of Nuclear Protection and Safety, IRSN, found in a review of epidemiological studies around nuclear sites. Dominique Laurier of IRSN's Epidemiology Laboratory said April 22 that the institute's review of 198 single-site epidemiological studies in 10 countries had confirmed the "persistence" of leukemia clusters in children around three sites: Sellafield and Dounreay in the UK, where both reactors and fuel cycle installations were operated, and Germany's Kruemmel nuclear power plant. But its review of 25 "multi-site" studies in eight countries showed that there were no multi-site studies, except the recent German one, that found such a relation. The German study, by the Institute of Medical Biometry, Epidemiology, and Information Science at the University of Mainz, published December 10, found a statistically significant relationship between leukemia among children below 4 years of age and their proximity to nuclear plant sites. But Laurier said the German researchers could offer no explanation for the excess other than proximity to the sites, and said that "the German study seem to be isolated" from the mainstream of multi-site studies. IRSN undertook the review at the request of the French nuclear safety authority, ASN. The review can be downloaded from http://www.irsn.fr. ------------ Dominion's 840-MW Surry-1 unit is exiting outage, US NRC says Washington (Platts)--22Apr2008 Dominion's Surry-1 nuclear generating unit is exiting a maintenance outage and operating at 67% capacity, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday in its reactor status report. The 840-MW unit near Williamsburg, Virginia, was shut down early Monday and had been out of service for several days so operators could repair a water leak to a heat exchanger in the station's turbine building, Dominion said last week. The adjacent, same-sized Surry-2 unit is operating at 95% capacity, the NRC said Tuesday. Unit 2 has slowly decreased its output over the past few days and is expected to undergo a refueling outage this spring, though an exact date on when the outage will begin has not been released. Unit 1 underwent a refueling outage in October and November of 2007. ------------ US Supreme Court to hear Eurodif LEU export case Washington (Platts)--21Apr2008 The US Supreme Court will hear a case on Eurodif's low-enriched uranium, or LEU, exports to the US, the court announced April 21. The case is to be argued and decided during the court's next term, which begins in October and ends in summer 2009, a court spokeswoman said. USEC and the US government had filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, the latest round in a case that began in December 2000. USEC and the government argue that the LEU from French enricher Eurodif is subject to import duties under US trade law. Eurodif and the Ad Hoc Utilities Group, a coalition of US nuclear operators, argue that enrichment is not covered by the duties because it is a service rather than a good. In 2005, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit agreed with Eurodif and AHUG. USEC also is seeking to overturn the decision through legislation. The decision in the Eurodif case could also have important implications for litigation and policy dealing with Russian uranium exports to the US. ------------ Plants remain online after Illinois earthquake Washington (Platts)--18Apr2008 Nuclear plants in the Midwest remained online following an earthquake early April 18 in southern Illinois that was felt across the region. The US Geological Survey said the initial quake, with a 5.2 magnitude (moderate), occurred at about 4:37 am CDT; a strong aftershock, with a 4.6 magnitude, occurred at about 10:14 am CDT. Exelon Nuclear, which operates all six nuclear power plants in Illinois, said none was affected by the quake, although operators performed walk-downs to search for potential impacts. In a statement, Exelon said early that day that it confirmed the quake did not damage equipment or otherwise affect operations. It said it planned additional inspections throughout the day. The reactor closest to the quake's epicenter was Exelon's Clinton, at 140 miles north. In Michigan, Entergy's Palisades and American Electric Power's Cook declared unusual events, the lowest of NRC's four emergency action levels. At Palisades, spokesman Mark Savage said a UE was declared about 6 am EDT. It was still in effect by mid-afternoon as operators inspected and monitored critical equipment and conducted primary leak rate tests following an aftershock, he said. AEP declared a UE shortly after the quake hit, and again following the aftershock. It separately terminated the UEs, the latest at 4 pm EDT, after inspecting both Cook units and determining there was no damage. Officials from two key fuel cycle facilities in the affected area -- Honeywell's uranium conversion facility in Metropolis, Illinois and USEC's gaseous diffusion uranium enrichment plant in Paducah, Kentucky -- said there was no impact on their plants. ------------