March 21, 2008

* Toshiba secures supply of Kazakhstan uranium in fuel deal with Russia

* UK and France to team in commercial n-plant biz

* Germany - 2012 electricity peak demand forecast to be higher than capacity

* Millstone - leaking gauge on BWST a source of tritium; this is second tritium leak at the site

* Oyster Creek - potassium iodide distribution

* Quad-Cities outage - $20.8-million payroll for workers from out-of-town

March 18, 2008

* South Africa shuts Russia out of first n-plant bid

March 17, 2008

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March 16, 2008

Fresno Nuclear Energy Group envisions building n-plant in California, with spent fuel reprocessed in France

Former labor union leader John Hutson is head of the fledgling Fresno Nuclear Energy Group that wants to build a 1,600-megawatt power reactor on 80 acres of city land, using ef fluent from a wastewater treatment plant for cooling. "This is not Wall Street businessmen," Hutson said. "These are farmers. They are salt-of-the- earth guys who know how to get things done." Hutson said his idea is to avoid the state moratorium by not producing any waste. Used fuel would be shipped to France for reprocessing

[Source: David Whitney, "Nuclear industry wants a reboot | Even in California, where new plants are barred for now, plans are afoot", The Tribune (San Luis Obispo, California), March 16, 2008, p. 1]

March 15, 2008

* South Carolina is the hot spot for locating your nuclear biz today

* Vermont Yankee - state legislature and license renewal

March 14, 2008

* Canada (Alberta) - Bruce Power, too, chooses Peace River, for 4 new n-plants

* Canada (Ontario) - new n-plant plan 3X bigger than 2006, prompts calls of bait-and-switch

* Colorado - local board hates coal, but needs baseload capacity. Could nuclear be in their future?

March 13, 2008

* Vermont Governor requests independent safety assessment for VYNPP

March 12, 2008

* Florida - Levy County n-plant takes step forward

* Florida - St Lucie wind farm idea criticized

March 11, 2008

* Florida - Levy County n-plant price triples | Progress Energy's planned plant costs $17-billion

* Indian Point - license renewal hearing wasn't public-friendly | like "listening to a science class taught in a foreign language by soft-spoken people"

March 8, 2008

* Nuclear renaissance expense may prompt utility teaming in Florida

March 7, 2008

* Indian Point told to seek review | NRC gives plant top safety rating but calls for outside evaluators

* CPS Energy seeks rate increase to fund such things as investigating new n-build

March 6, 2008

Exelon touts its 'exceptionally well-run nuclear fleet'

Exelon Generation filed an investor handout with SEC's EDGAR system today. The company plans to pursue nuclear plant uprates of about 200 MW by 2012, and investigate potential for more. The company also intends to pursue license extensions. It also intends to pursue nuclear Construction and Operating License in Texas.

Here are some highlights from the presentation:

* Nuclear fuel expense factors - Exelon 2008

* Pennsylvania - Energy Independence Strategy progress - March 2008

* Nuclear plants - range of 2-yr avg capacity factors, by fleet, 2002-6 [US]

* CO2 prices per ton could add $8-25/MWhr to cost of coal electricity by 2012-2012

* Power plant construction costs comapared - gas, coal, nuclear 2006-7

* Refueling outage duration - industry avg vs Exelon fleet - 2000-2007

* New n-plant build considerations - Exelon

* New n-plants - incentives in Energy Policy Act

* Exelon has jumped fullsquare onto CO2 control bandwagon

* Effects of various Congressional bills on CO2 emissions compared

* CO2 reduction - technology portfolio for power industry
See the whole handout here.

March 5, 2008

* Friends of the Earth protests Duke plan for new n-plant

March 3, 2008

This is from the front page of today's Deseret Morning News, of Salt Lake City, Utah.

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February 28, 2008

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February 27, 2008

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February 25, 2008

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February 24, 2008

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February 22, 2008

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February 21, 2008

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February 18, 2008

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February 17, 2008

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February 16, 2008

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February 14, 2008

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February 14, 2008

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February 12, 2008

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February 11, 2008

NRC chairman points to Peach Bottom example of following all the right steps and and still not reaching the right outcome

...Senator Carpel [and I] just finished a tour of the plant, and talked with Exelon managers about the security issue involving inattentive security officers. Let me say up front that I am not going to make excuses for what happened here. The NRC missed it. The plant missed it. From the NRC perspective, this is an example of how you can follow all the right steps and obey all the appropriate procedures, and still not reach the right outcome. In March of 2007, when the NRC first received the allegation, we responded in what we thought was an appropriate way... We investigated ,,,, but neither we nor the plant managers found evidence of the problem aleged... Clearly, the NRC needs to review the whole process of how we do those inspections.

[Source: Dale E. Klein (chairman - US Nuclear Regulatory Commission), "Statement .. at Peach Bottom ...", Speech 08-004, February 8, 2008]

* Klein on allegations - approx 1 in 10 of the 500-600 in a typical year result in enforcement action

February 11, 2008

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February 9, 2008

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February 3, 2008

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February 3, 2008

This is from the front page of today's International Herald Tribune, the New York Times vehicle published in Europe.

Sorry to say, the full text of this story does not appear to be available via the iht.com website. The article that this front page teaser is pointing to is in the finance section of the paper:

Barbara Wall (The New York Times Media Group), "Going for the nuclear option; Main focus is on U.K. as it sets stage for overhaul", The International Herald Tribune, February 2-3, 2008,p. 15.

Amongst the highlights of this article:

* "A slew of stock recommendations among utility companies, engineering businesses and uranium miners suggest that nuclear could be the winning investment theme in the power sector this year."

* "The French company Areva, the world's largest builder of nuclear reactors, forecasts that 150 to 300 nuclear reactors will be built in the world from now to 2030. At least 50 of them will be built in China and India, according to news reports."

* Investors trying to profit from nuclear growth in Europe should invest in a utility with expertise in many different areas, Coverley said. She recommended RWE, which is based in Germany and owns Powergen and npower in Britain, and Iberdrola, which is based in Spain. Both companies have strong customer bases in several European countries including Britain, she said, as well as relationships with the main turbine manufacturers, GE and Westinghouse. Asked to choose between the two utilities, Coverley picked RWE, which is facing regulatory uncertainty over the possibility of life extensions for the group's nuclear power fleet and is consequently trading at a discount to its peers. "If the German government were to allow these extensions, RWE would be the main beneficiary," she said.

* Benjamin Leyre, a utilities industry analyst with BNP Paribas in Paris, is also playing the nuclear theme this year, though his favorite stocks are EDF and E.ON, which is also based Germany. "As well as having formidable track records in the operation of large portfolios of nuclear power plants," he said, "both companies are well regarded as designers and builders of nuclear reactors - a unique and valuable combination of skills."

* Andrew Brown, a research analyst with Panmure Gordon in London, gave a strong recommendation to buy shares of Costain Group. "Although Costain Group does not separately disclose its nuclear business," he said, "it is expected to derive more of its revenues from this segment in the future." Costain is part of a bidding consortium for the British business that includes Amec, Areva and EDF. Costain is listed in the construction and materials sector of the stock market, which may put some investors off owning the shares.

* Other companies that could benefit from a nuclear renaissance include such cleanup consultancy firms as WS Atkins and RFS, which are on Jupiter Asset Management's "buy" list. Michael Liebreich, director of New Energy Finance in London, is exploring opportunities in areas like nuclear instrumentation, transportation and security. "The nuclear industry faces a huge shortage of skills due to years of underinvestment," Liebreich said. "We aim to identify the companies that can address these problems." With this end in mind, Liebreich has set up a New Nuclear division to research the global market for investment candidates.

* Investors can gain access to uranium miners and other players in the nuclear segment via such exchange traded funds as Van Eck Global Market Vectors Nuclear Energy ETF. The ETF seeks to replicate the performance of the DAX global nuclear energy index, a basket of the securities of 40 nuclear energy companies listed on global exchanges. The fund includes Cameco, Paladin Resources and other uranium miners as well as nuclear plant builders Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kajima. Also represented in the index are companies engaged in uranium enrichment and uranium storage, nuclear fuel transportation and nuclear-related equipment.

February 2, 2008

Indian Point - shutdown without license renewal would raise local electricity prices so much that thousands of jobs would likely be created elsewhere, as businesses avoid the area

The Westchester Business Alliance commissioned a researcher to estimate what the likely economic effects would be if the two nuclear plants shut down when, or before, current operating licenses expire. A pdf version of the full report is available here. The study concludes that natural gas-powered electricity is the most likely substitute, and that this would cost about six times more than Indian Point power. By 2017, the report concludes "Westchesters electric prices could rise to over $0.50 per kilowatt-hour or over three and one half times the projected national average should the Indian Point plants be retired." Current prices in the area are about $0.20, which is amongst the most expensive power in the nation. Westchester Countys high energy costs are cited as a reason for losing thousands of manufacturing and other industrial jobs over the past two decades.

The report states that "While Westchesters long-term economic outlook is promising with projected employment growth of as high as 36,000 new jobs by 2017, higher energy prices will surely reduce this forecast. As many as 11,000 fewer jobs, $2.1 billion in cumulative lost wages, and nearly $5.5 billion in cumulative lost economic output could result from higher energy costs."

[Ref: Dr. Howard J. Axelrod (Energy Strategies, Inc.), "AN ASSESSMENT OF ENERGY NEEDS IN WESTCHESTER COUNTY | The Economic Impact of Rising Energy Prices and Shortages in Supplies", Prepared for Westchester Business Alliance, January 31, 2008]

February 1, 2008

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January 30, 2008

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January 27, 2008

This is from the front page of today's The Dallas Morning News, of Texas.

This is from the front page of today's Daily Press, of Hampton oads, Virginia.

January 23, 2008

* [20080123-0002]
In Hot Water Drought could deprive nuclear plants of cooling water, forcing shut downs | BILL SHOCK: ELECTRICITY MAY COST MORE
The Associated Press/Winston-Salem Journal (NC)

Nuclear reactors across the Southeast could be forced to throttle back or temporarily shut down later this year because the rivers and lakes that supply power plants with the cooling water they need to operate are drying up. Utility officials said that such shutdowns probably wouldnt result in blackouts. But they could lead to much higher electric bills for millions of Southerners, because the regions utilities would have to buy expensive replacement power from other energy companies... Water is the nuclear industrys Achilles heel, said Jim Warren, the executive director of N.C. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network...

January 19, 2008