THE WORLD'S NUCLEAR NEWS AGENCY

World Nuclear Review - week ending 23rd July 2004

UK Sets Out Future Strategy For Radwaste Management Body

The British government said 21st July that a new state-owned "company limited by guarantee" (CLG) is being set up to hold shares in the UK's Nuclear Industry Radioactive Waste Management Executive (Nirex), and oversee its business operations.

The announcement follows a proposal outlined by the government last year to make Nirex independent of the country's atomic industry (see News No. 232, 18th July 2003).

Nirex shares are currently owned by the UK's main producers of radioactive waste - British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL), Magnox Electric (now part of BNFL), the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and British Energy (BE). The government holds a special share giving it safeguarding powers and the Ministry of Defence contributes to funding, but is not a shareholder.

A CLG provides for organisations to get together as "members" to establish a company for trading purposes, and such a company is usually used for non profit-making purposes. The new CLG will be set up by the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Source: NucNet correspondent Judith Perera / Nirex / Defra

Full report: NucNet News No. 153, 22nd July

EC Approves Amendment To Euratom's K2-R4 Loan

On behalf of Euratom, the European Commission (EC) on 20th July approved an amendment to the decision taken in 2000 to grant a loan to Ukrainian national nuclear utility Energoatom for unit two of the Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant and for unit four of the Rovno nuclear power plant - the so-called K2-R4 project (see Business News No. 137, 13th December 2000).

The EC said the loan - reduced to 83 million US dollars (USD) - would now exclusively target enhanced plant safety by financing the safety upgrade investments to be made after start-up of the plants, which are now both close to completion (see News No. 150, 16th July 2004 and News No. 141, 30th June 2004). Hot testing (without nuclear fuel) has now been completed at Rovno-4 - and, according to the Ukrainian Fuel and Energy Ministry, power start-up is scheduled for 14th August at Khmelnitsky-2 and for 16th September at Rovno-4.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) recently approved a loan of USD 42 million for the same project (see Business News No. 37, 7th July 2004). Ukrainian fuel and energy minister Serhiy Tulub said Energoatom and the EBRD would sign the agreement on 29th July - with funds likely to be delivered by the end of the year.

In addition, the EC said Ukraine has committed to modernising the country's remaining 13 nuclear units using K2-R4 as a benchmark, to setting up a decommissioning fund and to reaching an internationally agreed level of nuclear liability and insurance.

Source: EC / Ukrainian Nuclear Society

Full report: NucNet News No. 152, 21st July

NRG To Study New Nuclear In The Netherlands

Nuclear Research and consultancy Group (NRG) has announced it will launch a study next month related to the introduction of new nuclear capacity into the Dutch energy market.

NRG operates the Petten research reactor on the Netherlands' North Sea coast, and made the announcement in releasing its 2003 annual report on 12th July. The company, which has celebrated its fifth anniversary working in the areas of nuclear technology and radiation protection (see Business News No. 125, 2nd November 1998), said it has also been witnessing many changes in the industry.

NRG referred to the results of the April 2004 "Nuclear Landscape" survey published by The Hague-based Rathenau Institute. NRG said: "The report demonstrates that also in the Netherlands there exists a seedbed for new debate - discussion on important issues such as continuity of supply and climate change related to energy supply sources of the future, call for fundamental choices."

In this context, NRG said the survey starting next month would consider the reactor type and associated fuel-cycle most appropriate for market penetration both within Europe and within the Netherlands in particular - and consider aspects like new market developments and the demand for hydrogen and heat generation.

The NRG annual report also includes comments by Roland Schenkel, deputy director-general of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission - who called 2003 a "crucial" year for the Petten high flux reactor (HFR). He referred to the submission of a licence-renewal application, which included a required Environmental Impact Assessment and Integral Safety Assessment, as well as a structural-integrity assessment by Serco Assurance - meaning that the reactor can safely operate using the latest technology "at least until 2015" while the process to replace it moves forward.

Source: NRG

Full report: NucNet News No. 151, 20th July

Swiss Nuclear Funds Performing Well And 'On Target'

Funds that will be used to cover the costs of decommissioning Switzerland's nuclear power plants and for waste management performed well in 2003 and are "on course", according to the country's Federal Office of Energy (BFE).

At the end of last year, the accumulated capital of the decommissioning fund was 971 million Swiss francs (CHF) - equivalent to 634 million euros - compared to CHF 844 million in 2002 (a financial performance of 9.58%). The waste management fund stood at CHF 1771 million compared to CHF 1432 million the previous year (a financial performance of 10.40%).

The BFE said that the latest estimates, based on calculations made in 2001, showed that the cost of decommissioning all five Swiss nuclear reactor units and closing the country's central interim storage facility would be close to CHF 1.9 billion, while waste management costs would be a total of CHF 12.1 billion.

Nuclear power plant operators are already paying part of the decommissioning costs directly, until the end of operations at the plants, and the Swiss government must pay CHF 320 million towards the disposal costs of waste originating from medical, industrial and research purposes.

Source: BFE

Full report: NucNet News in Brief No. 12, 21st July

World Events Raised Energy Awareness In 2003, Says NEA Chief

The head of the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) has said world events over the past year have brought energy supply issues "more starkly to the front of people's minds" - including the potential role for nuclear.

NEA director-general Luis EchÀvarri made the remark in his introduction to the agency's annual report for 2003, which was published on 5th July 2004.

Mr EchÀvarri said the energy industry was strongly affected by world events in 2003 - with the war in Iraq and blackouts in North America and Europe having "brought energy supply questions more starkly to the front of people's minds".

The NEA - an agency of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) whose membership comprises 28 of the 30 OECD countries v said its 2003 report is a "snapshot" of the current state of nuclear in the OECD area. At the start of 2004, there were 351 nuclear units in operation in OECD countries, accounting for about 84% of the world's nuclear electricity generating capacity and approximately 23% of the total electricity supply in the OECD area.

Source: NEA

Full report: NucNet News in Brief No. 11, 19th July

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