Pistols at Dawn – Ostendorff

Pistols at Dawn – Ostendorff - 7 Ways

Rosatom has a beef with a Norwegian newspaper that said its nuclear facilities do not meet international safety standards. Its response, in part:

The company said it has told the newspaper it reserves the right to “defend its honor and integrity in accordance with international standards.”

Which we hope doesn’t include pistols and seconds. From Nucleonics Week. No link to the story, unfortunately.

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William Ostendorff won his first full term as an NRC commissioner last night, allowing the NRC to move forward with a full five-member roster of commissioners. Ostendorff had stepped in for the departing Dale Klein last year, but this vote ensures him a full five year term. This is important, as the NRC needs a majority to ensure there are no tied votes. Here’s a bit from Ostendorff’s bio at the NRC site:

Before joining the NRC, Mr. Ostendorff served as the Director of the Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy and as Director of the Board on Global Science and Technology at the National Academies.

Mr. Ostendorff came to the National Academies after serving as Principal Deputy Administrator at the National Nuclear Security Administration from April 2007 until April 2009. From 2003 to 2007, he was a member of the staff of the House Armed Services Committee. There, he served as counsel and staff director for the Strategic Forces Subcommittee with oversight responsibilities for the Department of Energy's Atomic Energy Defense Activities as well as the Department of Defense's space, missile defense and intelligence programs.

Mr. Ostendorff was an officer in the United States Navy from 1976 until he retired in 2002 in the grade of captain. During his naval career, he commanded an attack submarine, an attack submarine squadron and served as Director of the Division of Mathematics and Science at the United States Naval Academy.

Very impressive. The Hill has a story with the basic details and here’s Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.) offering congratulations:

"The public is best served by a full commission and Ostendorff's extensive knowledge, both of nuclear reactor operations and the national security issues surrounding it, is vital now as the NRC unravels the lessons-learned from the Fukushima accident and works to issue the first reactor licenses in thirty years.

Inhofe is ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works committee, one of the committees which oversees nuclear energy issues in the Senate. He posted this there rather than at his own web site. I looked around for a press release from committee Chairman Barbara boxer (D-Calif.), but no luck. It’s Friday.

NEI also has a press release, which echoes Inhofe’s comments to an extent.

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Tom Fanning is chairman, president, and CEO of Southern Company. He offers an article in U.S. News and World Report called 7 Ways the Nuclear Industry is Responding to Fukushima. We do have a link to this one.

Our industry will continue to respond to the events in Japan with the level of commitment and urgency that has been the hallmark of our actions. Within days of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, U.S. nuclear energy facilities launched an effort to re-examine and verify their preparedness to safely manage severe plant-related or natural events. Every plant re-examined safety plans and its ability to implement those plans with well-trained personnel and backup equipment on site.

Fanning is writing about about the industry initiative to – well, let’s let him describe it:

[O]ur industry has established a committee of chief nuclear officers from a dozen companies, as well as representatives from the Electric Power Research Institute, the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, and the Nuclear Energy Institute. The industry is ensuring that events in Japan are thoroughly researched for lessons learned and that every component of the U.S. nuclear industry understands and applies those lessons at facilities across the country.

And then come the 7 ways of the title. You can see what they are at the USNAWR site. Getting the word out on the nuclear industry’s plans for the future is extremely important and Fanning is a terrific messenger – good for him for doing this.

NRC Commissioner William Ostendorff

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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