Platts - Friday, May 01, 2009 http://www.platts.com ------------ Exelon: Tritium leaks at Oyster Creek have been stopped Washington (Platts)--30Apr2009 Tritium leaks have been located and stopped at Oyster Creek, Exelon Nuclear said in an April 30 statement. Two "small" leaks in underground pipes are "believed to be a main source" of water containing tritium that was discovered April 17 in monitoring wells at the plant. The pipes are being replaced, and other pipes and a water storage tank nearby are being inspected, the company said. The highest level detected, in a well sample taken last week, was six million picocuries per liter. The federal Environmental Protection Agency's tritium limit for drinking water is 20,000 picocuries per liter. Daily samples of water from Oyster Creek's intake and discharge canals have shown no detectable levels of tritium, and none was detected in an onsite drinking water well, Exelon Nuclear spokesman David Benson said April 30. Oyster Creek is in daily communication with the NRC and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and is conducting all sampling the agencies request, Benson said. Tim Rausch, Oyster Creek site vice president, said in the statement that "at no time has there been a threat to employees or public health and safety." ------------ White House science adviser says new nuclear plants likely Washington (Platts)--30Apr2009 The White House science adviser on Thursday acknowledged that the US likely would build new nuclear power plants, but added that challenges to embracing nuclear power remain. "We are probably going to see some new nuclear power plants in this country," said John Holdren, the President Barack Obama's science adviser and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Those new plants will be of a new generation and have better safety characteristics, Holdren told an annual science policy forum that the American Association for the Advancement of Science held in Washington. In the past it has taken more than a decade to build a new nuclear power plant, and Holdren said that future plants should be built more quickly. "We hope they will be characterized by shorter construction times," he said. Currently, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission are considering 15 applications for 25 nuclear units, but no companies have committed to building new plants, citing concerns over licensing and financing. No new nuclear power plants have been built in more than a decade. Other issues also stand in the way of building nuclear power plants, including creation of a national repository for nuclear waste. While one was planned in Yucca Mountain, Nevada, the Obama administration has slashed funding for the project, making it unlikely to ever be built. Holdren reiterated the need for a good approach to managing radioactive waste in the long term and also said the proliferation of nuclear weapons technology needs to be addressed in order to promote nuclear energy. "If nuclear energy is to make a big dent globally, then we are going to have to be attentive to breaking the linkages between nuclear energy technology and nuclear weapons technology," Holdren said. "And I think the administration will be attentive to how we need to do that as well." --Derek Sands, derek_sands@platts.com ------------ Kazakh-Chinese joint venture aims to build new reactors in China Barcelona (Platts)--29Apr2009 A joint venture to construct nuclear plants in China will be set up by Kazakhstan's national nuclear company, Kazatomprom, or KAP, and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Co., KAP said in an April 29 statement. Under a memorandum of understanding signed April 29, the companies will establish a joint venture called the Specialized Co., or SC, for the construction of nuclear power plants, project management and construction oversight, KAP said. No date was given for establishing SC. Other companies may be invited to become shareholders of SC and although its initial focus is on China, the company could potentially expand outside China, KAP spokesman Maksut Zhapabayev said. The SC will be financed jointly by the China Guangdong Nuclear Power Co. and KAP, the statement said. ------------ Nuclear industry has response plans ready for influenza outbreak Washington (Platts)--29Apr2009 Ongoing US nuclear industry efforts to prepare response plans in case of a possible global influenza outbreak are paying off as the rapid global spread of swine flu has put pandemic response planning back in the spotlight. Over the past three years, the industry has been preparing response plans so that nuclear power plants can safely operate and maintain electricity grid stability in the event of such an outbreak. As a result, the nuclear power plant operators are in a "very good posture" and "have all the right tools in place" to respond, said Vijay Nilekani, senior project manager for security at the Nuclear Energy Institute. Nilekani said in an interview Tuesday that nuclear power plant operators are using pandemic guidelines that NEI developed as a template, tailoring the provisions to meet their own needs. While an avian flu outbreak in 2005 triggered the development of national guidelines and served as the foundation for the nuclear industry's preparedness plans, the response actions haven't changed with the latest outbreak, Nilekani said. "Exactly the same things you would do to mitigate [avian flu], you'd do for this one," he said. "It's coming in very handy now because nothing has changed except the type of virus. It's still a type-A influenza. That's what spurred the effort." The goal of keeping reactors online is considered a national priority to prevent the collapse of other critical functions in a time of a health crisis. "If nuclear went offline, the grid would become somewhat unstable and difficult to manage. So the grid operators are telling us that in most parts of the country, the nuclear plants are critical to keeping a stable and operational grid," he said. Nilekani said an industry task force has been working on NEI's pandemic licensing plan for the past two years--there are monthly conference calls, national workshops and a US Nuclear Regulatory Commission workshop on pandemic response planning. NRC requires that a minimum number of staffers for certain positions at nuclear power plants, including licensed operators, non-licensed operators, fire brigade and shift and security supervisors. Experts predict there would be high absentee rates for an extended period at the workplace during a pandemic outbreak, possibly affecting up to 40% of workers for six to eight weeks. There also could be multiple waves of pandemic outbreak, each lasting several weeks. The industry had asked NRC for leniency during a flu pandemic, seeking enforcement discretion while compensatory measures are put in place, but NRC staff rejected providing such discretion in advance, however, saying it would consider exemptions on a case-by-case basis when there was an actual outbreak. NRC developed its own pandemic response plan. The latest version of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation's plan, which supplements NRC's agency-wide plan, was issued last month. NRC staff and industry officials are scheduled to meet June 18 to discuss resolution of issues with NEI's revised pandemic licensing plan. --Jenny Weil, jenny_weil@platts.com ------------ Gas 'a big winner' if US cap-and-trade passes: Caruso New Orleans (Platts)--29Apr2009 The natural gas industry will emerge as a major winner in the next two decades if US President Barack Obama succeeds in pushing through cap-and-trade emissions legislation, a former US government energy official said Tuesday. "Coal now accounts for roughly 50% of electrical power (in the US)," said Guy Caruso, former head of the US Energy Information Administration, at CWC's Americas LNG conference in New Orleans. "If a (cap and trade) bill passes, coal will fall to below 40%." Despite Obama's push for increased use of renewable energy, much of that slack would have to be taken up by gas-based generation or nuclear power, since renewables would likely continue to have a relatively small share of the market, said Caruso, who is now senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "If nuclear power grows by a small amount, natural gas will be a big winner in the 2010-30 period," Caruso said. "My personal view is that's probably how it will all play out, even though the Obama administration is very cautious about supporting any fossil fuel. "Even with aggressive targets for renewables, you would still need natural gas to play an important role," Caruso said. The EIA's latest long-term outlook to 2030 does not share the same optimism for the gas industry because "it is not allowed to speculate" about possible cap-and-trade legislation, Caruso said. Under that long-term outlook, coal would still account for 50% of US electricity generation in 2030 and gas would remain relatively stead at 22-23%, Caruso said. Renewables would grow at the faster rate, to about 20% in 2030 from the present level of about 10%, according to a chart Caruso showed. US gas consumption through 2030 would be met by a combination of conventional domestic production, unconventional domestic production, LNG imports and Alaskan gas, according to the EIA outlook. Unconventional production from tight sands, shale plays and coalbed methane would account for 55% of US consumption in 2030, according to the outlook, said Caruso. US LNG imports would peak at 1.6 Tcf in 2016-17 and then steadily fall to about 1 Tcf by 2030, the outlook said. By next year, the US would have about 5 Tcf/yr of regasification capacity, he said. EIA's projections of what sources would meet US gas consumption through 2030 are based on the assumption gas prices would be relatively stable and show an overall increase, Caruso said, which would encourage production of non-conventional plays. EIA projects the US gas price would be about $8.40/MMBtu in 2030 in current dollars, which would be more than $12/MMBtu at that time, he said. --Ron Nissimov, ron_nissimov@platts.com ------------ Spot uranium prices move higher on utilities' supply concerns Washington (Platts)--28Apr2009 The spot price of uranium continued to climb over the last week and now stands at $44/pound U3O8, according to price-reporting firms TradeTech and Ux Consulting. TradeTech raised its price by $2.50 late Friday, while UxC raised its price $2 late Monday. But UxC lowered its long-term price by $5/lb to $65/lb, while TradeTech kept its estimate at $69/lb. UxC said that while it lowered its long-term price -- for multi-year deliveries starting at least 24 months out -- the timing did "not necessarily coincide" with the most recent higher spot offers, which occurred during the day April 27. In the spot market, sellers continued to raise their offer prices over the week as they saw buyers willing to accept higher prices, both TradeTech and UxC noted. TradeTech said that not only utilities, which have purchased the bulk of spot material this year, but traders and financial players had entered the market seeking supply. Some analysts were predicting the spot price is now likely to continue to head higher, although there may be some weeks, especially in the summer, when the price could temporarily dip. The analysts said they are seeing more utility nervousness about future supply, especially given the enormous uranium needs of China's growing nuclear power program, which, according to one estimate, could reach 220 million pounds by 2020. But other analysts were suggesting that at least for the near term, supply still is plentiful and there remain a number of aggressive sellers that will respond to any signs of buyer resistance by lowering their offer prices. In its commentary, UxC said "the real litmus test for the market may come when and if the price increase hits the six- week mark. In the previous three price rallies, price recovered strongly at first but the rally fizzled after about 5-6 weeks, as buyers retreated from the market." Those more bearish analysts also cite prices in what some have called a "medium-term market"--deliveries in the period 2011-2013. One trader pointed out that such deals are continuing to be made in the $50-$60/lb price range. Whether they will move higher given that the spot price is increasing remains to be seen, said another analyst. Another trader said that he has been getting some recent inquires from utilities that are interested in buying "options" to purchase uranium in the future at a specified price. Market analysts and price publishers often have slightly different definitions of spot and long-term deliveries, but spot-market deliveries typically occur within about three to four months (but can sometimes stretch out to 12 months). Long-term deliveries are multi-year deliveries that start typically start 18-24 months in the future (but can sometimes start as soon as 13 months out). The Platts NuclearFuel range for the week was $41.50-$46/lb U3O8. ------------ Toshiba to open nuclear engineering center Washington (Platts)--28Apr2009 Toshiba will open a nuclear engineering center in Charlotte, North Carolina in August, the company said in an April 28 statement. The center "will bolster Toshiba Group in expanding its nuclear power businesses" in the US by supporting construction of ABWRs and supplying steam turbines and "other major equipment" for AP1000s, Toshiba said. About 200 workers will be employed at the center by the end of 2013, it said. Toshiba Corp. and Westinghouse have been awarded engineering, procurement and construction contracts for eight planned nuclear units in the US. Westinghouse is majority owned by Toshiba. ------------ GOP senator: US should build 100 new nuclear plants Washington (Platts)--27Apr2009 The US should build 100 new nuclear power plants, Republican Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee said April 25. Alexander delivered the GOP's response to President Barack Obama's weekly address, which did not touch on energy issues. "You'd think that if Democrats want to talk about energy and climate change and clean air, they'd put American-made nuclear power front and center," Alexander said. "Instead, their answer is billions in subsidies for renewable energy" from solar, wind and geothermal, he said. But these sources provide only about 1.5% of US electricity supply, so even doubling or tripling their generation wouldn't contribute very much, Alexander said. "When Republicans say, build 100 new nuclear power plants during the next twenty years, Democrats say, no place to put the used nuclear fuel. We say, recycle the fuel -- the way France does. They say, no we can't," he said. A transcript of Alexander's remarks is online at: http://www.gop.com/News/NewsRead.aspx?Guid=92504368-37ec-4d4e-94bb-9edc4fc33250 ------------ Areva NP fuel fabrication facility gets 40-year renewal Washington (Platts)--24Apr2009 NRC renewed Areva NP's Richland fuel fabrication facility for an additional 40 years of operation, the agency and Areva said in separate statements April 24. NRC said this is the first time it has granted a 40-year renewal for this type of facility. There are no set license terms for fuel fabrication facilities, and in the past, NRC has issued renewed licenses for up to 20 additional years. The license for the Richland, Washington facility was initially issued by the Atomic Energy Commission in December 1970. Its license was last renewed in November 1996 and expired in November 2006. But Areva filed a timely application in October 2006 and was allowed to continue operations during the renewal review process. The facility is licensed to possess and process uranium enriched to a maximum of 5% by weight in uranium-235 for the manufacture of fuel pellets and assemblies for commercial nuclear power plants. ------------ Kazakhstan uranium mine opens, production headed to Japan Barcelona (Platts)--24Apr2009 A Kazakhstan uranium mine intended to feed Japanese nuclear plant was officially opened Friday, state-owned uranium miner Kazatomprom said. The Kharasan-1 mine is owned by the Kyzylkum Joint Venture, in which Canadian-based Uranium One has a 30% interest. The balance of joint venture is held by Kazatomprom, which holds a 30% stake and by a Japanese consortium that has a 40% interest. Members of the consortium are Tokyo Electric Power, Marubeni, Toshiba, Chubu Electric, Tohoku Electric and Kyushu Electric. The mine is expected to produce 180 metric tons of uranium this year and reach annual production of 3,000 mt by 2014. Total investment in the mine has reached more than US$432 million, Kazatomprom said. --David Stellfox, david_stellfox@platts.com ------------