Nuclear Power Today articles from October 2005

Nuclear Power Today archives from October 2005

NRC Issues First Revision of GALL Report.
October 3, 2005... The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recently issued the first revision of its Generic Aging Lessons Learned (GALL) Report, a key document in the agency's process for reviewing applications to renew reactor operating licenses. According...

IA Consumer Advocate Opposes Proposed Sale of Duane Arnold.
October 3, 2005... Iowa's Office of Consumer Advocate (OCA) recently urged the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) to disapprove an application by Interstate Power & Light Company to sell its 70-percent interest in the Duane Arnold Energy Center, a 598-megawatt nuclear...

NRC Releases Majority of Maine Yankee for Unrestricted Use.
October 4, 2005... The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recently amended the operating license of the Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company to release the majority of land from the old Maine Yankee power plant site for unrestricted public use. According to...

Pakistan Shares Nuclear Information With South Korea.
October 4, 2005... Reuters recently reported that Pakistan's prime minister has declared that his nation has shared with South Korea all information related to an exchange of nuclear technology with North Korea, calling the matter a "closed chapter." ...

Duratek, TriVis Enter Waste Management Agreement.
October 5, 2005... Duratek, Inc. recently announced it has formed a teaming agreement with Pelham, AL-based TriVis, Inc., to provide services for commercial spent nuclear fuel dry storage to the U.S. nuclear utilities marketplace. Duratek noted that the...

NAC Awarded Three-year Extension of NMMSS Contract.
October 5, 2005... NAC International recently announced it has been awarded a three-year, $25-million contract extension by the Department of Energy to manage the Nuclear Materials Management and Safeguards System (NMMSS). According to NAC, the company has...

Local NY Politicians Criticize Indian Point Evacuation Plan.
October 5, 2005... Local New York newspaper the Times Herald-Record recently reported that Orange County legislator Roxanne Donnery and county executive challenger Michael Edelstein have joined in voicing concern that city officials in Goshen, NY have not...

IAEA Elects Japanese Governor as New Board Chair.
October 6, 2005... The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recently announced the election of Japanese ambassador Yukiya Amano as the new chairman of its board of governors. IAEA noted that Amano, a former director of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's...

Switzerland Orders U.S. Extradition of Former Russian Nuke Chief.
October 6, 2005... The Swiss Federal Office of Justice (FoJ) earlier this week ordered the extradition to the U.S. of former Russian atomic energy minister Evgeny Adamov, granting the U.S. extradition request precedence over that of Russia. According to FoJ,...

Venezuela Considers Development of Nuclear Technology.
October 6, 2005... The Associated Press (AP) reported earlier this week that during his weekly radio and television address, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced that the country has begun investigating the use of nuclear energy. Additionally, AP said...

Next Week's Publishing Schedule.
October 7, 2005... EIN will not publish its newsletters on Monday, October 10, in observance of Columbus Day. We will resume our regular production schedule on Tuesday, October 11. (EIN EDITOR: 10/6)

NRC Seeks Input on Brunswick Draft EIS for License Renewal.
October 7, 2005... The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff, in a draft environmental impact statement (EIS), has reached the preliminary conclusion that there are no environmental impacts which would preclude renewal of the operating licenses for the...

Cameco Negotiating to Acquire Canadian Nuclear Fuel Fabricator.
October 7, 2005... Cameco Corporation advised earlier this week that it is in negotiations to acquire nuclear fuel bundle manufacturer Zircatec Precision Industries, Inc. Cameco noted that its review of Zircatec will determine if the company meets its...

EPRI Nuclear Fuel Cleaning Technology Receives R&D 100 Award.
October 7, 2005... The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), three member companies -- AmerenUE, Exelon Corporation and South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company -- and Dominion Engineering, Inc. (DEI) have recently been honored with a 2005 R&D 100 Award...

Weekly Update.
October 7, 2005... CANADIAN NUCLEAR SOCIETY 7TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CANDU MAINTENANCE: November 20-22, 2005, Holiday-Inn-on-King, Toronto, Ontario EUROPEAN NUCLEAR CONFERENCE (ENC) 2005, December 11-14, 2005, Palais des Congres of Versailles,...

ANO Unit 1 Taken Offline for Maintenance, Refueling.
October 11, 2005... Entergy Corporation recently announced that Unit 1 at the Arkansas Nuclear One (ANO) facility was taken offline last week for planned maintenance and refueling. According to Entergy, the current outage is Unit 1's 19th for refueling. In...

Lithuanian President Calls for Third Nuclear Plant.
October 11, 2005... Chinese news agency Xinhua recently reported that Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus has said his country should build a new nuclear power plant and halt the process of shutting down the existing Ignalina nuclear facility. According to...

Ukrainian Activists Protest Government Plans for New Reactors.
October 11, 2005... Representatives of the Ukrainian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) Bakhmat, Ecoclub, Green World, MAMA-86, National Ecological Centre of Ukraine and Voice of Nature held a protest last week near the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in Kiev...

China Expects to Bring New Advanced Reactor Online by 2010.
October 12, 2005... Agence France-Presse (AFP) recently reported that an article featured late last week in China Daily indicates that the country expects to commence operation of a new experimental "super-efficient" nuclear reactor by the end of the decade. ...

INER Selects NAC UMS Technology for Dry Spent Fuel Storage.
October 12, 2005... NAC International recently announced that the Republic of China's Institute for Nuclear Energy Research (INER) has selected NAC's Universal MPC System (UMS) technology for the first deployment of dry spent fuel storage at nuclear power plants...

IAEA, Director General to Share Nobel Peace Prize.
October 12, 2005... The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recently announced that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2005 has been awarded jointly to the agency and its director general Mohamed ElBaradei. According to IAEA, the prize is being awarded to the...

Bechtel SAIC Repudiates Charges of Poor Work at Yucca Mountain.
October 13, 2005... The Associated Press (AP) recently reported that Las Vegas, NV-based Bechtel SAIC Company, LLC, the prime contractor for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository project, has repudiated charges of performing work on the facility that was...

TEPCO Shuts Down Reactor Following Pump Failure.
October 13, 2005... Bloomberg News Service reported earlier this week that Japanese electricity producer Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) was forced to shut down the 784-megawatt (MW) nuclear reactor at its Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Fukushima Prefecture...

U.S. Expresses Concern About Venezuelan Nuclear Pursuits.
October 14, 2005... The Financial Times recently reported that a U.S. defense official has informed the newspaper that the U.S. will "likely put heavy pressure on Argentina" to abandon its plans to sell a nuclear reactor to Venezuela, which confirmed earlier this...

Iran Looks to Russia For Help Building More Nuclear Plants.
October 14, 2005... Mehr News Agency (MNA) recently reported that Iran hopes to involve Russia in the construction of additional nuclear power plants. According to MNA, Russia is already working on the Bushehr nuclear power plant, Iran's first. "Iran...

Japanese Prefecture to Host ITER-related Research Facility.
October 14, 2005... Japan Today recently reported that Shingo Mimura, governor of Aomori, Honshu, confirmed earlier this week that the prefecture will house an International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER)-related research facility in the village of...

Weekly Update.
October 14, 2005... CANADIAN NUCLEAR SOCIETY 7TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CANDU MAINTENANCE: November 20-22, 2005, Holiday-Inn-on-King, Toronto, Ontario EUROPEAN NUCLEAR CONFERENCE (ENC) 2005, December 11-14, 2005, Palais des Congres of Versailles,...

Two Units at APS Palo Verde Plant Shut Down Due to Malfunction.
October 17, 2005... Bloomberg recently reported that Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) spokesperson Victor Dricks revealed last week during an interview with the news service that Arizona Public Service (APS) was required to shut down Units 2 and 3 at its Palo...

Iran Considers Reentering Nuclear Talks With EU.
October 17, 2005... Reuters recently reported that Iran appears to be taking steps to avoid referral to the United Nations Security Council and seems potentially open to resuming negotiations with the European Union (EU) concerning the country's nuclear program....

Survey Finds Power Plant Neighbors Favor Nuclear Energy.
October 17, 2005... The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) recently announced that a new public opinion survey commissioned by the institute and conducted by Bisconti Research, Inc. and Quest Global Research Group finds that 83 percent of Americans living in close...

NRC Announces Reappointment of Commissioner.
October 18, 2005... The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recently announced the reappointment of Edward McGaffigan, Jr. as NRC commissioner, for an unprecedented third term. According to NRC, McGaffigan began his first term in August 1996, and was...

Nevada, DOE Clash Over Release of Yucca-related Documents.
October 18, 2005... The Las Vegas Review-Journal recently reported that an attorney representing the State of Nevada has accused the Department of Energy (DOE) of "asking for special favors" in its request for oversight of more than 5,000 "sensitive" documents...

AECL Announces New Executive Appointments at Chalk River.
October 18, 2005... Atomic Energy of Canada, Ltd. (AECL) recently announced the appointment of Brian McGee as its new vice president of nuclear laboratories. McGee will be based in Chalk River, Ontario. According to AECL, McGee is replacing Paul Fehrenbach,...

Entergy Accepts NRC Conditions for Vermont Yankee Uprate.
October 19, 2005... Local Vermont newspaper the Rutland Herald recently reported that Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant owner Entergy Nuclear has informed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) of its intention to abide by NRC-established operating conditions...

RAB Invests Heavily in Uranium Mining Companies.
October 19, 2005... Bloomberg News reported last week that U.K. hedge fund manager RAB Capital has invested heavily in uranium mining companies in the past year, anticipating increased interest in nuclear power options as a result of concerns about greenhouse gas...

Novastar Takes Strategic Equity Stake in Thorium Power.
October 20, 2005... Novastar Resources, Ltd. recently announced it has made a strategic equity investment in Thorium Power, Inc. According to Novastar, Thorium Power develops and deploys thorium-based nuclear fuel designs aimed at ending the production of...

TransCanada to Invest in Bruce Power Reactor Restarts.
October 20, 2005... TransCanada Corporation recently announced that Bruce Power and the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) have entered into a long-term agreement under which Bruce Power will restart the currently idle Units 1 and 2 at the Bruce nuclear power station,...

U.S., Russian Officials Attend MOX Plant Groundbreaking in SC.
October 20, 2005... The Associated Press (AP) recently reported that officials from the U.S. and Russia attended a groundbreaking ceremony late last week for a new mixed oxide fuel (MOX) plant to be developed in Aiken, SC. According to AP, the facility, which...

Palo Verde Nuclear Station Units Return to Service.
October 21, 2005... Arizona Public Service (APS) recently announced that Units 2 and 3 at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station have resumed full power following their shutdown earlier this month. According to APS, Units 2 and 3 were taken off line on...

Shutdown of Bulgarian Reactors Expected to Raise Power Prices.
October 21, 2005... Sofia News Agency recently reported that Bulgaria's Parliament has determined that closing two reactors at the nation's Kozloduy nuclear power plant would cause electricity prices to rise by 56 percent. According to Sofia News, the...

NEI Criticizes ABC Report on University Research Reactors.
October 21, 2005... The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) recently criticized ABC News for "misleading the public" with its report last week on security at university research reactors, and for raising the specter of a "dirty bomb" attack at a reactor "without...

Weekly Update.
October 21, 2005... CANADIAN NUCLEAR SOCIETY 7TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CANDU MAINTENANCE: November 20-22, 2005, Holiday-Inn-on-King, Toronto, Ontario EUROPEAN NUCLEAR CONFERENCE (ENC) 2005, December 11-14, 2005, Palais des Congres of Versailles,...

States, Environmental Groups Call for Shutdown of Diablo Canyon.
October 24, 2005... The San Francisco Chronicle recently reported that California, Massachusetts, Utah and Washington have joined environmental activist groups the Sierra Club and San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace in urging a three-member panel of the Ninth U.S....

Vietnam Unveils Plan for New $3-billion Nuclear Plant.
October 24, 2005... Chinese news agency Xinhua reported last week that Vietnamese officials have revealed plans to build a new $3.4-billion nuclear power plant in the province of Ninh Thuan. According to Xinhua, the plant, which will be built in either the Ninh...

DOE Announces Grant to Clark Atlanta, Georgia Tech.
October 24, 2005... The Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced it has awarded a $375,000 grant to Clark Atlanta University and Georgia Tech for the establishment of a collaborative nuclear engineering program. DOE noted that the grant, awarded over...

NRC Issues Draft Report for Nine Mile Point Renewal.
October 25, 2005... The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recently announced the release of a draft supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) that assesses the impact of extending the operating license for the Nine Mile Point nuclear station's units 1...

FERC Approves FPL's Proposed Purchase of Duane Arnold Plant.
October 25, 2005... Local Iowa newspaper the Des Moine Register recently reported that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved FPL Energy's proposal for the purchase of the Duane Arnold nuclear power plant, which is located near Palo, IA. ...

NRC Issues Safety Evaluation for Grand Gulf ESP Application.
October 26, 2005... The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recently announced the release of its final safety evaluation report (SER) for an early site permit (ESP) for the Grand Gulf site near Vicksburg, MS. According to NRC, System Energy Resources, Inc....

Vermont Yankee Commences Refueling and Maintenance Outage.
October 26, 2005... Entergy Nuclear recently announced that the Vermont Yankee nuclear power station completed this past weekend its 25th operating cycle, during which it produced electricity for a total of 515 days. According to Entergy, scheduled refueling...

AECL President and CEO Proposed for Reappointment.
October 26, 2005... Canadian minister of national revenue and minister of natural resources John McCallum recently announced that Robert Van Adel has been proposed for reappointment as president and CEO of Atomic Energy of Canada, Ltd. (AECL). According to...

NRC Seeks Input on EIS for Oyster Creek Renewal Application.
October 27, 2005... The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recently announced it will conduct two public meetings on November 1 to gather public input on the environmental impact statement (EIS) related to the license renewal application for the AmerGen-operated...

Fuel Loading Begins at Tianwan Nuclear Plant in China.
October 27, 2005... Chinese news agency Xinhua recently reported that fuel loading has begun at the Tianwan nuclear power plant in China's Jiangsu Province. According to Xinhua, a total of 163 sets of nuclear fuel assemblies is being loaded. Xinhua noted...

British Industry Calls for Wales' Consideration of Nuclear Power.
October 27, 2005... Welsh newspaper Western Mail recently reported that Confederation of British Industry (CBI) deputy director John Cridland has expressed the need for a debate on the potential of nuclear power to help meet the principality's future energy needs....

Duke Power Prepares Combined COL Application for Reactors.
October 28, 2005... Duke Power recently announced it is preparing a combined construction and operating license (COL) application for new nuclear power generation. The company expects to submit the COL to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission within 24-30 months. ...

PPL Susquehanna Begins Fall Maintenance Outage.
October 28, 2005... PPL Corporation recently announced that its Susquehanna nuclear power plant will shut down its Unit 1 reactor today for a maintenance outage designed to help improve the operation of the unit's control rods. According to PPL, routine...

OCRWM Calls for 'Clean' Design for Yucca Mountain Repository.
October 28, 2005... The Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) recently instructed its managing contractor to devise a plant to operate the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository as a primarily "clean" or...

Weekly Update.
October 28, 2005... CANADIAN NUCLEAR SOCIETY 7TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CANDU MAINTENANCE: November 20-22, 2005, Holiday-Inn-on-King, Toronto, Ontario EUROPEAN NUCLEAR CONFERENCE (ENC) 2005, December 11-14, 2005, Palais des Congres of Versailles,...

Duratek Reports Third-quarter Financial Results.
October 31, 2005... Columbia, MD-based radioactive materials management company Duratek, Inc. recently announced its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, reporting a quarterly net income of $2.8 million, or 18 cents per diluted share,...

AmerGen to Commence Refueling at Three Mile Island.
October 31, 2005... Local Pennsylvania newspaper the York Daily Record recently reported that Unit 1 at AmerGen Energy's Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Dauphin County, PA has been temporarily shuttered for a scheduled refueling. According to the...