Nuclear Energy Industry Transitions

American Electric Power has elected Ralph Crosby Jr. to its board of directors. Crosby is chairman and chief executive officer of EADS North America.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has named Bruce Evans its new staff director. After a transition period, Evans will replace Alex Flint, who will become NEI vice president of governmental affairs when John Kane retires in April. Evans currently serves as the clerk for the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies. He has worked on Capitol Hill since 1989.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has appointed Robert Solomon as its new solicitor, responsible for representing the commission before the U.S. Court of Appeals and Supreme Court. Solomon has been acting solicitor since November 2005, and served as deputy solicitor since 2001.

Nuclear Electric Insurance Ltd. (NEIL) has appointed Greg Wilks as its vice president of insurance, effective immediately. Wilks had been NEIL’s vice president of loss control for 17 years.

Constellation Energy’s subsidiary, Constellation NewEnergy, has named Joseph Zarella managing director of operations. Zarella joins Constellation NewEnergy from XO Communications, where he was vice president of revenue operations for six years.

Ellen Wolf, senior vice president and chief financial officer of USEC Inc., will leave the company in late February for a similar position with American Water Inc. John Barpoulis, USEC treasurer vice president of finance, will serve as interim chief financial officer.

Southern Co. has named Earl Parsons to the newly created position of vice president-system contracts officer and associate general counsel. The company also named Jeff Wallace its new vice president of fuel services. Parsons has been with Southern Co. since 1991, and Wallace since 1978.

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

Comments

Activists' Claims Distort Facts about Advanced Reactor Design

Below is from our rapid response team . Yesterday, regional anti-nuclear organizations asked federal nuclear energy regulators to launch an investigation into what it claims are “newly identified flaws” in Westinghouse’s advanced reactor design, the AP1000. During a teleconference releasing a report on the subject, participants urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to suspend license reviews of proposed AP1000 reactors. In its news release, even the groups making these allegations provide conflicting information on its findings. In one instance, the groups cite “dozens of corrosion holes” at reactor vessels and in another says that eight holes have been documented. In all cases, there is another containment mechanism that would provide a barrier to radiation release. Below, we examine why these claims are unwarranted and why the AP1000 design certification process should continue as designated by the NRC. Myth: In the AP1000 reactor design, the gap between the shield bu...

What Happens During a Refueling Outage?

You may have noticed over the past few weeks that a number of nuclear plants are shut down for refueling outages or are resuming operations after just returning from one. This type of routine outage usually occurs in the spring or fall when electricity demand is low so that nuclear reactors can replace about one-third of the spent fuel rods with new fuel and conduct other routine maintenance and repairs at the plant. To get a better sense of how refueling works at a nuclear energy facility, I spoke with Marcus Nichol, NEI’s senior project manager for used fuel storage and transportation, and asked him to explain the basics. Why does a nuclear plant need to replace one-third of its fuel? Nichol: The main purpose of a refueling outage is to replace older fuel that is depleted—meaning it can no longer efficiently produce energy from nuclear fission reactions—with new fuel. This “used fuel” has typically been used in the reactor for four-and-a-half to six years before it is pe...

Nuclear Utility Moves Up in Credit Ratings, Bank is "Comfortable with Nuclear Strategy"

Some positive signs that nuclear utilities can continue to receive positive ratings even while they finance new nuclear plants for the first time in decades: Wells Fargo upgrades SCANA to Outperform from Market Perform Wells analyst says, "YTD, SCG shares have underperformed the Regulated Electrics (total return +2% vs. +9%). Shares trade at 11.3X our 10E EPS, a modest discount to the peer group median of 11.8X. We view the valuation as attractive given a comparatively constructive regulatory environment and potential for above-average long-term EPS growth prospects ... Comfortable with Nuclear Strategy. SCG plans to participate in the development of two regulated nuclear units at a cost of $6.3B, raising legitimate concerns regarding financing and construction. We have carefully considered the risks and are comfortable with SCG’s strategy based on a highly constructive political & regulatory environment, manageable financing needs stretched out over 10 years, strong partners...

NEI Nuclear Notes

Search This Blog