NEI Nuclear Notes

“Nuclear will always make up at least half of our energy (electricity output)," he was quoted as saying during a Franco-Chinese seminar in Beijing on Friday to commemorate a 30-year partnership in the nuclear sector. "Nuclear energy is a sector of the future," he added. That’s Arnaud Montebourg , the French industry minister, speaking, so he knows whereof he speaks. France is building two nuclear reactors in China, which raises an important point – nuclear energy technology is not just a economic boon to ratepayers like those in France but to companies like the French-owned AREVA, which is building the Chinese reactors. The Reuters story also mentions in passing that the French utility EDF is building a new reactor in England. This is how trade works. --- Which may be why we’re hearing this out of Japan: In an attempt to overturn the previous administration's pledge to phase out nuclear power, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's gover...

There are things you  really oughtn’t to do, even if you have the best of intentions : Une vingtaine de militants de Greenpeace ont été interpellés lundi 16 juillet pour avoir pénétré dans la centrale nucléaire du Tricastin, dans la Drôme. L'association entend pointer des failles de sécurité et provoque directement François Hollande, notamment sur le "risque terroriste".  Which means (my translation – buyer beware): Twenty Greenpeace activists were arrested Monday, July 16 after trespassing at the Tricastin nuclear power plant, in the Drôme [southeastern France]. The association intended to point out security vulnerabilities and directly provoke [Prime Minister Francois] Hollande, notably about the "terrorist threat" [presumably of a vulnerable nuclear plant.] Tricastin proved not to be as vulnerable as the activists thought. There are some interesting details in the L’Express story. The security detail knew quickly that the plant ground...

U.K. Nuclear Stations Our Olympics-hosting friends in Great Britain appear poised to react to climate change in a manner far different from the Germans, who have designs on abandoning nuclear energy . Britain Gives Nuclear a 2nd Chance , the New York Times informed this week, and in it we learn that the British government "is courting the nuclear industry." Why? "It wants low-carbon power to aid its goal, enshrined in law, of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050." Those numbers caught my attention. They sounded eerily familiar to me, and for good reason. I work a lot with communicators at California's two nuclear energy facilities, San Onofre and Diablo Canyon . In 2006, then Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law Assembly Bill 32 , the Global Warming Solutions Act. Under that law California must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 -- about 30 percent. And the state must redeuce GHG by 80 perce...

First, an additional tidbit on our coverage of IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2011 , where we learned that the rumors of nuclear energy’s demise are greatly exaggerated. Just consider this chart from page two of the “Key Graphs” part of the report.  As you can see, the IEA sees nuclear’s future more in line with the measured growth of renewables rather than coal or oil’s steady decline. In its report, the IEA imagines a world without (or actually, with very little) nuclear power . It’s called the “Low Nuclear Case” scenario. And surprise! It’s not the utopia some would have you believe. The net result would be to put additional upward pressure on energy prices, raise additional concerns about energy security and make it harder and more expensive to combat climate change. Of course, it’s a projection, so it has to be taken with a grain of salt. But the data coming in from countries that have scaled back their nuclear energy plans show that the IEA is onto something. Fir...

We did not follow stories about Constellation Energy and its decision not to accept a loan guarantee on terms offered by the government because no one story really moved the initial news forward. Too much speculation, too little substance can create considerable drama but not much in the way of useful information. But today, the story generated some facts: Constellation Energy settled its dispute with French utility giant Electricite de France on Tuesday, selling its half of a joint venture to develop new nuclear power plants and dropping its threat to exercise an option to force EDF to buy a dozen aging fossil fuel plants. Note the word “dispute.” That’s drama. Note the word “force.” That’s false, as there was a contractual arrangement between the two companies to bring about this result, thus no force required. Beyond that, this Washington Post story makes clear that EDF means to move forward with nuclear energy. As you might imagine, this is a pretty complex parting of t...

This not very objective comment in the Guardian about a new poll canvassing British attitudes to various energy issues struck us as interesting. After noting that public concern over global warming has drooped , Owen Bowcott continues thusly: The numbers of those interested in where Britain's electricity comes from have also slipped back, according to a survey commissioned by the energy company EDF, demonstrating what appears to be growing consumer complacency in an era of electric-powered gadgetry. Well, we wouldn’t call it complacency, really. Might it be that stirring up the energy pot didn’t generate enough muck to stick to disfavored sources? As if to demonstrate this, the poll, taken by YouVote for EDF, has more alarming news: Among Lib Dems [Liberal Democrats], the coalition party explicitly opposed to new nuclear building – as many as 58% of supporters believe "nuclear energy has disadvantages, but the country needs it to be part of the energy balance...

Well, all right, not really – but welcome retro-computing fans, anyway – but we have been interested in how the nuclear energy utilizes computer systems. We know the basics of security – don’t point crucial systems at the internet is a big one – but on a day-to-day basis, how does the industry interact with computers? What does it do with them that’s unique? Here’s part of the answer: The new agreement, which adds to the original contract signed in April 2008, covers additional work necessary for Accenture to support business processes, including configuration management of detailed design data and management of data associated with required inspections; testing, and analyses; and use of acceptance criteria involved with the construction of nuclear energy facilities. The agreement is between UniStar and Accenture, and it gets a little complicated after that. UniStar is jointly owned by Constellation and EDF, tasked with developing, as its home page says, “the safest, most...

No sooner does Italy drop its ban on new nuclear plant development than someone starts developing them : The Italian energy company Enel has formed a joint venture with France's EdF to develop nuclear energy in Italy, the companies said in a joint statement Monday. The companies billed the move "as the first substantial step" toward establishing nuclear plants in Italy following the approval of an Italian law last month allowing a return to nuclear energy more than two decades after voters shut down the country's reactors. The new venture is called Italy Nuclear Development (Sviluppo Nucleare Italia). You can read Enel’s take on this development here . Interestingly, Enel is not completely new to this: EdF and Enel have been working together since 2007 on the construction of a third-generation reactor in Flamanville in Normandy, in which Enel owns a 12.5 percent stake. By a separate agreement Enel will take an identical-sized stake in the second EPR...

A British wind utility, Ecotricity , and French nuclear company EDF are fighting for the rights to a “green” union jack to use at the 2012 London Olympics – EDF is the “sustainability partner” for the Olympics, so that’s pretty green all the way around. (EDF is the majority stakeholder in British Energy, hence their interest in this.) On the Wind Energy Planning Web site, the news story about the squabble concludes : EDF have submitted a trademark application for their green union jack - however Ecotricity is retaliating by taking the company to the high court. EDF energy are 85% owned by the French State. They are the worlds third largest producer of nuclear waste. It’s all a matter of perspective, we guess. We reckon we would support EDF if we had much feeling for the set-to, but let’s be generous – and disinterested – and wish it and Ecotricity equal luck. Either way, we’ll see a lot of green Union Jacks. --- We, of course, have no beef with anyone who believes the Ear...

CNN reports that Electricite de France is in discussions with Constellation Energy to take over half its nuclear business. Now, it shouldn't surprise anyone that the French have taken an interest in the American nuclear marketplace - they have a lot of experience in making the numbers work, which has been problematic for Constellation - and a lot of experience with nuclear energy. However, there's an interesting wrinkle here - well, actually a couple. Here's the first : Constellation's board hasn't changed its recommendation to shareholders to vote in favor of the merger with MidAmerican , a unit of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRKA), at a shareholder meeting Dec. 23, according to the release. That's Warren Buffett's outfit and it represents Buffett's reentry into the nuclear market after his Idaho flirtation. The link to MidAmerican is to their front page - there's a news release about the merger linked from there. And wrinkle two: [El...

While this article in the Baltimore Sun initially focuses on job cuts, it later gives a good summary of the choices shareholders will have in deciding the fate of Constellation. Here is what I want to talk about: The EDF proposal unveiled Wednesday called for selling half of Constellation's nuclear power assets to the French firm for $4.5 billion, including an immediate down payment of $1 billion in cash, and also selling several non-nuclear power plants to the company for as much as $2 billion. The rest of Constellation would remain roughly the same, publicly traded and operating out of its Baltimore headquarters. So how does the fact that a French company is so keen to buy the nuclear assets, but not the entire company, play with a new administration that says it will address energy policy right away? How does it play with Wall Street investors? What would be the effect of a French company owning and operating nuclear power plants in the U.S.? Discuss among yourselves...

We have a winner in the British Energy Stakes. Per the BBC , French energy firm EDF has agreed to buy British Energy, the firm which operates eight UK nuclear power plants, in a £12.5bn deal. In addition, British Gas-owner Centrica said it is in talks with EDF to take 25% of all power generated by British Energy once it is in French hands. It will also take a 25% stake in all new nuclear plants built by EDF. British Energy power plants generate about 14% of UK energy supply, but many are due to be shut within 15 years. British Energy chairman Sir Adrian Montague said the deal was "good for shareholders, good for staff, good for the nuclear industry and good for the country". In an interview with the BBC, he played down concerns about the extent of which the UK's energy provision would fall into foreign hands should the tie-up be successful. "This country has had a history of being very open to foreign capital. All the investors in the energy industry have sustained j...

The British government, wanting to divest itself of its share of British Energy, had many suitors coming by with flowers and blandishments before it finally succumbed to the Boyer-inflected Pepe LePew of energy companies, Electricite de France. However, we now learn that the rain has washed the white stripe from British Energy’s back and it just looks like a cat : Reports said the proposed deal - the subject of discussions lasting several months - broke down after two of the UK company's biggest shareholders requested EDF put more money on the table. British Energy is a key part of plans to boost Britain's nuclear energy production. It is part-owned by the Government which had hoped to sell its stake. EDF hasn’t left the table and may well end up finding terms agreeable to it. You may wonder why the government would want to sell its share. Here’s a stab at an explanation from Sky News : However, the years following its privatisation saw sharp falls in whol...

We wrote a couple of days ago we may have jumped the gun on the British Energy story by declaring Electricité de France (EDF) the last company standing in the bidding for the nuclear utility. We did - or might have. While British Energy says it has more interest, it will not say who has expressed the interest or how serious the various parties are. Here's how Bloomberg puts it: Two of the three proposals received by British Energy were for more than 680 pence [about $13.29] a share, yesterday's closing price, said a person with knowledge of the offers, who declined to be identified because the matter is confidential. Centrica Plc , the U.K.'s biggest energy supplier, made one of them, a second person said. Centrica is a bit of a surprise as earlier stories had them partnered with EDF. Even more surprising is that one of the bidders is thought to be Suez, the French energy concern that complained that EDF might lock them out of the British nuclear market. We ...

...nuclear energy news you may have missed this weekend. Add Minnesota to the list of U.S. states considering nuclear as an energy solution....68% of polled executives support the building of one or more new power plants in Michigan, according to a survey conducted by Crain's Detroit Business ...Uranium mining claims are up in the U.S....Seeking to become the world's top producer of uranium, Khazakstan has signed an agreement with Japan....The National Assembly of Vietnam is expected to approve a law this month leading to the construction of the country's first nuclear power plant....French utility EdF will submit a 6.2 billion pound (12.2b USD) offer for British Energy....A piece in Psychology Today provides some much-needed context (and salve) for a public's irrational fears [see no. 9 on the list]....Web traffic to the NEI site and NEI blog hit all-time highs in April.

Off the wire : UniStar Nuclear Energy (UNE), a joint venture between Constellation Energy and The EDF Group (EDF), has submitted an application to the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) for the potential construction of a new nuclear unit at Constellation Energy's Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Southern Maryland. While UNE has not made a final decision to build this new advanced-design reactor at Calvert Cliffs, it has submitted the CPCN to the PSC as a step toward potential construction of a non-greenhouse gas emitting, base-load, 1,600-megawatt generating facility to meet increasing energy demand in the Mid-Atlantic region, and in particular, the state of Maryland. "A third reactor at our high-performing Calvert Cliffs site offers the potential for an economic and environmentally sound means to provide additional base-load electricity to meet anticipated growth, both regionally and within the state of ...

From Thomson Financial : EDF chief executive officer Pierre Gadonneix backed greater use of nuclear power as a way of combating climate change, saying that politicians must be more active in making it acceptable to public opinion, which remains the main obstacle. He said the contribution of wind power to limiting CO2 emissions would remain small. Nuclear power makes up nearly 80 pct of EDF's power production. The company has an interest in wind power projects through its renewable energy unit, EDF Energies Nouvelles.

From the IHT : Would you feel better about the environment by filling up on electricity generated by a nuclear plant than plain, old gasoline? That’s one of the questions Toyota may face as part of a partnership with Electricite de France announced Wednesday at a glitzy Toyota showroom on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. The companies are setting up a “smart network” of plug-in points and household sockets that would charge users for filling up on French electricity, most of which comes from the country’s dozens of nuclear plants. Unlike coal, gas and oil plants, nuclear emits virtually zero carbon dioxide, although it does leave radioactive waste that troubles many citizens and environmentalists. By charging cars at night, drivers would emit virtually no CO2 because that’s when nuclear plants are providing almost all the country’s base load of electricity, said Pierre Gadonneix, EDF’s chief executive. I'd be willing to plug my car in at night? How about you?

There's an interesting piece in the Metro section of the Washington Post concerning just how much local support there is to add an additional reactor at the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Maryland. Then again, you'd never know it if you read the headline on the piece: Foes of Nuclear Expansion Find Few Allies Huh? I don't mean to complain too loudly, but it seems to me that the reporter might well have gone into this story with a few preconceptions about how the locals feel about the plant. Then again, if you had taken a look into our archives, you would have found interesting information like a strong endorsement of the plant and its operations from House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer . Beyond that, you also would have found a post from August 2005 pointing to a story about how the Calvert County Board of Commissioners unanimously supported a resolution in favor of a new reactor . Or another news story from August 2006 where that same board passed a property tax ...

Visit Below The Beltway . UPDATE : David Wogan likes what he hears about the nuclear provisions in the latest energy bill.