Nuclear Energy Industry Transitions

President Bush announced his intention to nominate Philip Moeller and Jon Wellinghoff to be members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Each would serve the remainder of five-year terms, expiring in 2010 and 2008, respectively. Moeller is executive director of the Washington office of Alliant Energy Corp. Wellinghoff is a partner at Beckley Singleton.

The Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) elected Lewis Hay III as chairman of its board of directors. Hay is chairman and CEO of FPL Group Inc. INPO also elected David Ratcliffe as the board’s vice chairman. Ratcliffe is chairman, president and CEO of Southern Co. INPO re-elected the other members of its board for 2006.

Kirk Schnoebelen has been elected president of Urenco Inc., effective immediately. He succeeds Charles Pryor, who continues to serve as non-executive director and president and CEO of Urenco Investments Inc.

UniStar Nuclear, the joint venture between Constellation Energy and AREVA Inc., has announced the members of its advisory board. Membership includes:
• Richard Meserve, Ph.D., president of the Carnegie Institution and former chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
• General John Gordon (U.S. Air Force, Ret.), former assistant to the president and homeland security adviser under president George W. Bush. He also was the deputy national security adviser for counter terrorism and the national director for counter terrorism. Gordon was undersecretary of energy and the first administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration.
• James Asselstine, a managing director of Lehman Brothers and former NRC commissioner.
• Kyle McSlarrow, president and CEO of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association and former deputy secretary of energy. He also served on President George W. Bush's Management Council and as the American co-chair of the U.S.-Russia Energy Working Group.
• Neil Todreas, Ph.D., a professor of nuclear science and engineering and mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

AREVA has appointed Jean-Pol Poncelet adviser to the chairman of the executive board. He also is vice president of new energies policy in the international affairs and marketing department.

The United Kingdom’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has appointed Mark Leggett its new commercial director, effective March 13. Previously, Leggett was managing director of Aker Kvaerner’s Engineering Services business.

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

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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...

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