The NEI Morning Clip File

Here are some of the news clips we're reading at NEI this morning. South Carolina has spoken up, imploring Nu Start Energy to choose the Savannah River site for one of its new nuclear power plants:

The joke Tuesday was that NuStart Energy Development LLC could ask for anything and get it, as long as the consortium chose to get a nuclear reactor license at Savannah River Site.

The construction of a new reactor at SRS would cost an estimated $1 billion and create between 250 and 400 jobs.

The proposition led one person at Houndslake Country Club, where a five-man team with NuStart met with politicians and community leaders, to quip that if the consortium of power companies wanted the city of Aiken moved, it could be arranged.

...NuStart's advance team was greeted by a strong showing of political leadership, including four South Carolina congressmen and U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, along with state and local politicians.

"What we're doing today is historical," said U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett, R-S.C., adding that "nuclear is the wave of the future."

Here's what's happening in Alabama:

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley is sending Neal Wade, director of the Alabama Development Office, to meet with officials from an energy consortium.

That group is considering the unfinished Bellefonte Nuclear Plant in Northeast Alabama for the site of a new advanced nuclear energy plant.

"Now that we have more information about this project, the state will be taking an aggressive stance pursuing the economic investment and jobs it can bring to Alabama," Wade said in a statement released by Riley's office this week. "Not only would this project be a plus for our economy, it will be a plus in providing a domestic source of secure energy."

On the energy bill, post-gazette.com reports that the new legislation may boost industry in Pennsylvania:

The mammoth energy bill that President Bush is expected to sign as early as this week promises to unleash some $14.5 billion in tax breaks and other financial incentives -- a number of which could boost Pennsylvania industries ranging from coal mining and nuclear plant development to farming and biodiesel production.

...The coal and nuclear provisions are expected to have significant impact in Western Pennsylvania.

"The energy bill is far-reaching, and it does have some strong nuclear provisions," said Vaughn Gilbert, spokesman for Monroeville-based Westinghouse Electric Co., the nation's largest nuclear plant developer.

The bill provides up to $1 billion in tax credits for utilities to install 6,000 megawatts of nuclear generating capacity, an amount that would translate into four to six new plants.

Since the 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Middletown, work at Westinghouse largely has been confined to repair and maintenance of existing nuclear generators. Westinghouse officials say new nuclear plant construction in the United States and in China could mean hundreds of new jobs.

The Prague Daily Monitor is reporting that Bulgaria is progressing well in its nuclear energy aspirations:

Czech company Skoda JS has advanced to the second round of a tender to build two 1,000 MW units of a nuclear power station in Bulgaria's Belene, Skoda JS said yesterday.

The contract, worth CZK 70-80 billion, would provide jobs for thousands of Czech workers for ten years. Another bidder in the second round of the tender is the Russian company Atomstroyexport.

...The Bulgarian national power company NEK EAD will sign a contract with the general supplier in early 2006. Construction work will begin in one to two years. The first unit in Belene should be put into operation in 2010-2011 and the second unit by 2016.

A Russian federal agency is going to take out loans for the construction of three new nuclear power units, reports Novosti:

A second unit for the Volgodonsk nuclear power plant (the Rostov region, southern Russia) will be a priority.

"We have drafted a detailed business plan for constructing the second unit of the Volgodonsk nuclear power plant," the official said. "The project has secured support from a series of banks."

"We have long been seeking loans, and we are capable of building several units at a time. However, the second unit of the Volgodonsk nuclear power plant [is a priority]," said the source.

He also said the agency would take out loans for building the fifth unit of the Balakovskaya nuclear power plant (Saratov region, on the Volga, 600 miles from Moscow) and the fourth unit of the Kalininskaya nuclear power plant (Tver region, 99 miles northwest of Moscow).

Come back this afternoon for more news from the NEI Clip File.

Technorati tags: Nuclear Energy, Environment, Energy, Politics, Technology, Economics

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