Where Are the Nuclear Forgings? Track 29!

During the period that the United States slowed construction of nuclear energy plants, the subsidiary companies that did large forgings for such plants also languished. So American concerns needed to go overseas for replacement pieces, leading to multi-ton pieces to be shipped by boat and ever so slowly delivered via flat bed train and truck to their destinations. Here’s an Insight story about a French-made steam generator and its tortuous trip to Three Mile Island.

Wouldn’t it be nice to make these in the United States? Reviving the steel industry here, for whatever purpose, however tentatively, is something that can only be to the good.

The facility is designed to build the world's largest steam and gas turbines for power plants as well as retrofit existing facilities, according to Alstom officials.

On Wednesday, Alstom brought in about 100 customers for a sneak preview of the plant and to talk about energy, said Amy Ericson, vice president market communications for Alstom's power sector.

And where might this be? Chattanooga. Alstom is a French company – here’s its site for the new plant, though be warned it starts playing a video with music when you go to it. The plant does what you want it to do – offer a number of high-paying jobs:

At Alstom, which expects to hire 350 workers by 2013, the jobs will average $75,000 annually, according to the company.

And it answers to the issue of large forgings:

"[Customers] like the proximity of it very much," Ms. Ericson said. "All up and down the middle corridor of the country are some of the largest nuclear and steam facilities."

Mike Pare’s article also expresses the city’s enthusiastic hope that this plant turns Chattanooga into a center for this kind of operation. What can we say? We do, too.

Alstom factory a-borning.

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Pardon me, boy, is that the Chattanooga choo choo?

Track twenty-nine!

Boy, you can gimme a shine? I can afford to board a Chattanooga choo choo. I've got my fare and just a trifle to spare

-- From Mack Gordon and Harry Warren’s song Chattanooga Choo Choo.

If you think Chattanooga doesn’t take full advantage of that song, you have another think coming. This is the old train station in town, now converted to stores and a hotel all built around the choo choo theme. See here for more. Could be charming, could be overbearing.

Fluor Invests in NuScale

You know, it’s kind of sad that no one is willing to invest in nuclear energy anymore. Wait, what? NuScale Power celebrated the news of its company-saving $30 million investment from Fluor Corp. Thursday morning with a press conference in Washington, D.C. Fluor is a design, engineering and construction company involved with some 20 plants in the 70s and 80s, but it has not held interest in a nuclear energy company until now. Fluor, which has deep roots in the nuclear industry, is betting big on small-scale nuclear energy with its NuScale investment. "It's become a serious contender in the last decade or so," John Hopkins, [Fluor’s group president in charge of new ventures], said. And that brings us to NuScale, which had run into some dark days – maybe not as dark as, say, Solyndra, but dire enough : Earlier this year, the Securities Exchange Commission filed an action against NuScale's lead investor, The Michael Kenwood Group. The firm "misap...

Wednesday Update

From NEI’s Japan micro-site: NRC, Industry Concur on Many Post-Fukushima Actions Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues • There is a “great deal of alignment” between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the industry on initial steps to take at America’s nuclear energy facilities in response to the nuclear accident in Japan, Charles Pardee, the chief operating officer of Exelon Generation Co., said at an agency briefing today. The briefing gave stakeholders an opportunity to discuss staff recommendations for near-term actions the agency may take at U.S. facilities. PowerPoint slides from the meeting are on the NRC website. • The International Atomic Energy Agency board has approved a plan that calls for inspectors to evaluate reactor safety at nuclear energy facilities every three years. Governments may opt out of having their country’s facilities inspected. Also approved were plans to maintain a rapid response team of experts ready to assist facility operators recoverin...

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

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