THE WORLD'S NUCLEAR NEWS AGENCY

World Nuclear Review - week ending 2nd July 2004

'Reliability And Safety' Strengthens US Support For N-Plants

A new nationwide opinion poll indicates that 72% of Americans consider their nearest nuclear power plant as reliable - and a record high of 65% favour the use of nuclear energy as one of the ways of providing electricity in the US.

The representative poll, conducted in April for the US Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) and released this month, also found that 74% agreed to the Department of Energy (DOE) and utilities working together to develop state-of-the-art nuclear plants.

Strong support for nuclear is reflected across demographic groups and political affiliation, in addition to a growing awareness of the environmental benefits of nuclear energy.

The record 65% figure in favour of using nuclear is an increase on the 60% figure recorded in October 2003 and on percentages that were in the low 50s two decades ago. The majority of respondents in the latest poll (64%) also said that adding a new nuclear plant to their nearest nuclear plant already in operation would be acceptable.

Respondents chose "air quality protection" as the most important consideration to be taken into account in producing electricity, which the NEI said was "far ahead" of considerations of reliability, price, adequate supply and energy independence. However, only 27% rated nuclear energy as "one of the best" for air quality protection (the largest number rated it "average").

Source: NEI / Bisconti Research Inc.

Full report: NucNet News No. 138, 25th June

Future Nuclear Goals In Focus As World Marks Atomic Anniversary

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) held talks in Russia this week into the country's proposal to host an international repository for spent nuclear fuel.

Mohamed ElBaradei made the announcement in Moscow - where he attended the start of an international conference marking the 50th anniversary of the start of operations of the world's first commercial nuclear power plant, in the Russian city of Obninsk.*

In a wide-ranging speech on 27th June, Dr ElBaradei said: "I have begun to encourage multilateral approaches to spent fuel disposal. Not all countries have the right geology to store waste underground and for many countries with small nuclear power programmes, the costs would be prohibitive. I hope to discuss the Russian effort further this week."

In a separate statement issued at the start of the conference, the IAEA also revealed that several "developing countries" that currently do not operate nuclear plants "have approached the IAEA for objective advice and analysis to consider the appropriateness of nuclear for their needs and, if appropriate, for help with project preparation and planning for the procurement of nuclear plants".

*The anniversary conference moved to Obninsk on 28th June, where the Obninsk reactor unit was the world's first to be connected to an electricity grid - at 5.30pm on 26th June 1954. The Obninsk plant officially closed on 30th April 2002, following nearly 48 years of virtually uninterrupted service.

Source: IAEA

Full report: NucNet News No. 139, 29th June

Chapelcross N-Plant Ceases Generation

British Nuclear Group - the newly launched clean-up component of British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) group - announced the end of electricity generation from 29th June at the UK's Chapelcross nuclear power plant.

BNFL had made public in 2002 its decision that generation by the four nuclear units at Chapelcross would be phased out by March 2005. Unit one has remained out of service since August 2001, and today's announcement completes the process for the rest of the nuclear plant.

British Nuclear Group said the decision - which in 2002 followed an economic review of the operation of the entire Magnox reactor fleet - means that both the company and the workforce can now concentrate fully on preparing for the next stages of the life of the Chapelcross site. The plant began electricity production in February 1959 and, when fully operational, its four Magnox reactors produced 194 megawatts of electricity.

Site manager Dr Bob Clayton said: "We have now reached the position at Chapelcross where we are clear that continuing to deploy the resources needed to maintain generation from the three remaining - by modern standards v relatively small reactors at this site cannot be justified commercially. We intend to refocus this effort onto preparing for the defuelling and decommissioning phases of the station's life, making us very well prepared to deliver the priorities of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, and give value to the taxpayer through safe, faster and cheaper clean-up."

Source: British Nuclear Group

Full report: NucNet News No. 140, 29th June

Hot Tests Under Way At Ukraine's Khmelnitsky N-Plant

Ukraine has confirmed the start of hot tests at unit two (K2) of the country's Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant - and the country's deputy fuel and energy minister, Mykola Steinberg, said on 29th June that the unit is expected to be on line by the end of the year.

Mr Steinberg told NucNet that the hot tests started 26th June. In his presentation to the Obninsk 50th anniversary conference in Russia, Mr Steinberg said that hot tests at unit four (R4) of another Ukrainian nuclear plant, Rovno, had been put back by about two months. However, he expected that the unit would also be on line before the end of the year.

Source: Mykola Steinberg

Full report: NucNet News No. 141, 30th June

Euratom Reports On A 'Tense' 2003

In its recently released 2003 annual report, the Euratom Supply Agency (Euratom) said the year 2003 was "tense from the point of view of the nuclear fuel supply chain" - with production disruptions, price rises and currency exchange rates influencing purchasing strategies.

In the report released 16th June, Euratom refers to the flooding of the McArthur River mine in Canada, the temporary closure of a US conversion facility as well as the confirmation of the closure of the British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) conversion facility in the UK in 2006 as "having influenced the perception of the disruption risks of the market".

Euratom said it also observed a doubling of uranium purchases on the market by the European industry in 2003, to 18 000 tonnes of uranium (tU) compared with 9200 tU in 2002 - while, in parallel, the quantity of deliveries under spot contracts represented a "significant share" of the total (18%).

Simultaneous with production disruptions, Euratom reported that: "The significant move in the exchange rate between the US dollar and the euro has hindered the profitability and revenues of the front-end cycle industry and more particularly the uranium mining sector."

Euratom said these factors will have an increasing influence on purchasing strategies - and demonstrate "the need at European and utility levels for a clear 'security of supply' strategy".

Source: Euratom

Full report: NucNet News No. 143, 1st July

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