[ RadSafe ] [Nuclear News] Nuclear plant planning moves ahead

[Sandy Perle]

Index:

Nuclear plant planning moves ahead
Garrett wants MPs to reveal stance on nuclear plant location
Radioactive leak at Czech plant
Thai Min: No Delay In Pwr Plant Bidding; Mulls Nuclear Plant 
Lawmakers tour landfill for low-level nuclear waste 
TEPCO finds more nuclear lapses, no shutdowns now
Agreement to Provide Four AP1000 Nuclear Power Plants in China
Diablo gets assessment timeline 
OSHA Seeks Information From Stakeholders on Ionizing Radiation
-------------------------------------------------

Nuclear plant planning moves ahead 

Pioneer Sun News Mar 1 - You may not have heard too much lately about 
that planned nuclear power plant in southern Levy County S but that 
doesn't mean plans have stopped.  

Two representatives from Progress Energy spoke to the Williston 
Rotary Club on Tuesday and brought the group up to date on work being 
undertaken to possibly get the power plant built. 

"We haven't made a final decision to build," said Gail T. Simpson, 
manager of Public Policy and Constituency Relations for the company. 
"We haven't purchased the land. There are still more tests to be 
done."

Rosemary Fagler, Community Relations Manager for the region, 
described the needs of consumers and how growth has affected the 
company. "New homes are so much larger now," she said, noting that 
more space required more energy to heat and cool, there were more 
appliances today than in earlier years and computers were in most 
homes, many running on a 24/7 basis.

Simpson pointed out that within 50 years the "population is expected 
to double in the state of Florida."

The speakers commented that Progress Energy has to start thinking 
about that now, even though its needs might be 10 or 20 years away. 

Simpson answered the question of why Levy was chosen. "There are 
limited locations in Florida. A lot of hot water is required, and 
there are very few places that using that much water would not have 
an impact."

The Levy County site would draw water from the Gulf.

"We also needed a couple thousand acres in a rural area.

"The Levy County location is a preferred site for a lot of technical 
and other reasons."

The company still has a lot of processes and permitting to go 
through, including the state, the Public Service Commission, the 
Department of Environmental Protection and the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission.

"We'll file an application with the NRC by the end of next year," 
Simpson said. "They require all sorts of information," including 
weather data and soil borings.

Fagler spoke about the economic benefits, including property taxes, 
1,000 to 2,000 construction jobs, 500 permanent jobs and increased 
local investment.

She also said the plant would be environmentally friendly with no 
greenhouse gas emissions.

When asked by the Pioneer whether they would ask for tax breaks, 
which many industries do as they move into an area, they said things 
like that hadn't been considered as yet.

"We hope to have a good relationship with the county," Simpson added. 
-----------------

Garrett wants MPs to reveal stance on nuclear plant location

Opposition environment spokesman Peter Garrett has tried to make all 
Lower House MPs reveal whether they would be happy to have a nuclear 
power plant built in their electorates.

The Opposition has been pressuring the Government to say where 
nuclear reactors might be located if a nuclear industry is developed 
in Australia.

Many Coalition MPs have already said they would not want a nuclear 
plant in their seat.

Mr Garrett attempted to have all MPs explain their stance on the 
issue in Parliament.

"[I] noted the stated opposition outside the house of a growing 
number of members to the location of a nuclear power plant in their 
electorate, [I'm] providing all members with an opportunity to come 
into the house and declare their opposition to the location of a 
nuclear power plant in their electorates," he said.

Mr Garrett's motion was defeated by the Government.

Meanwhile the Greens want the owners of any future nuclear power 
stations in Australia to be legally responsible for any damage that 
might be caused to private property in Australia.

Greens Senator Christine Milne says there is a standard nuclear 
exclusion clause in every insurance policy, which leaves home owners 
liable for any costs resulting from an accident at a nuclear 
facility.

Senator Milne is calling on the Government to back a Greens' Bill to 
force a change.

The Greens will be moving a private member's Bill which will make it 
very clear that nuclear facilities bear absolute liability for any 
damage to property surrounding that facility," she said.

"Now if the Government doesn't support that then it will be leaving 
all Australians vulnerable."
-------------------

Radioactive leak at Czech plant

Prague - About 2 000 liters of radioactive water leaked at the Czech 
Republic's Temelin nuclear power plant, but did not contaminate the 
environment, an official said on Thursday. 

The water leaked early on Tuesday at the plant's first unit, which is 
currently shut down for fuel replacement, plant spokesperson Milan 
Nebesar said. 

"The water went to a special tank through a special sewage system and 
none of it leaked to the environment," Nebesar said. He said that an 
open valve caused the leak. 

The plant's second unit was running at full capacity. 

Nebesar said the plant's management has informed Czech and Austrian 
authorities about the leak. 

The Czech Republic and Austria have been at odds for years over the 
plant. Environmentalists in Austria have demanded that the plant, 
located only 60 kilometres from the Austrian border, be closed 
because of security concerns. Czech authorities insist it is safe. 

Construction of the plant's two 1 000-megawatt units, based on 
Russian designs, started in the 1980s. The reactors were later 
upgraded with US technology, but have remained controversial because 
of frequent malfunctions.
----------------

Thai Min: No Delay In Pwr Plant Bidding; Mulls Nuclear Plant 

BANGKOK -(Dow Jones)- Thai Energy Minister Piyasvasti Amranand 
reiterated Thursday that bidding for new power plants will go ahead 
in April as planned.

The Thai government plans to open bidding for new power plants to 
increase the country's installed capacity by 3,000-4,000 megawatts 
from the current 26,430 MW. The new power plants will come onstream 
in 2011-2013 to meet the country's increasing power demand.

The ministry will also look into the possibility of building a 
nuclear power plant to meet Thailand's electricity demand, which is 
expected to increase around 5%-6% in the next decade, Piyasvasti told 
a group of foreign reporters.

The ministry will consider all types of fuel for the power plants 
that are up for bidding to minimize dependency on natural gas, 
Piyasvasti said.

Natural gas accounts for nearly 70% of fuel for power generation in 
Thailand.

"We can't rule out any specific type of fuel. We have to consider all 
available options including natural gas, coal, hydropower and nuclear 
energy," Piyasvasti said.

"There will be no requirement on sources of fuel. Participants in the 
new bidding can propose to build power plants by using any fuel they 
prefer," he said.

Piyasvasti had earlier said he would like to see coal-fired power 
plants account for 40% of new capacity to reduce dependency on 
natural gas.

His softer stance comes after villagers from the western province of 
Prachuab Khiri Khan protested against coal-fired power plants and 
nuclear power plants in their province.

The villagers' protest also led to the cancellation of a public 
hearing earlier this month on the Energy Ministry's draft version of 
a 15-year power development plan.

In March, the Energy Ministry will also open a separate bidding for 
small power plants or alternative fuel power plants, for a total 
installed capacity of 1,700 MW, said Piyasvasti. 

Nuclear Power Plant Likely To Start In 13-15 Yrs 

Thailand needs to consider building a nuclear power plant, given the 
limited supply of conventional fuel such as natural gas and oil, 
Piyasvasti said.

A feasibility study on the proposed nuclear power plant will be 
undertaken soon, he said, adding that the plant could come onstream 
"maybe in the next 13- 15 years," he added.

Thailand had planned to build a nuclear power plant in the mid-1970s 
in the eastern province of Chonburi, but abandoned the plan when it 
discovered natural gas in the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea.

Even though the investment cost for building a nuclear power plant 
would be three to four times higher than a conventional power plant, 
the fuel cost would be a lot cheaper than for other fuel types, said 
Piyasvasti.

"We want to bring the data (on the nuclear power plant) to the public 
and debate rationally, not emotionally," said Kurujit Nakornthap, 
deputy permanent secretary of the Energy Ministry.

Under the draft power development plan for 2007-2021, nuclear power 
plants with a combined capacity of 5,000 megawatts would be built to 
supply electricity starting 2020 and 2021. Other new power plants 
would use coal and natural gas as fuel.
-------------------

Lawmakers tour landfill for low-level nuclear waste 

SNELLING (Charleston Post & Courier) Mar 1 - About 60 people, 
including more than a dozen lawmakers, learned how low-level nuclear 
waste is disposed of during a tour Wednesday at a low-level 
radioactive waste landfill in rural Barnwell County.

Rep. Joan Brady was surprised to learn the trenches where the waste 
is buried aren't very deep so they don't interfere with the 
underground aquifers.

"It's very valuable to see what the trenches look like. They're very 
different than what I thought," said Brady, R-Columbia.

The lawmaker and others wanted to see the 235-acre Chem-Nuclear site 
firsthand as legislators decide whether to change a decision to close 
the landfill next year to all but three states: South Carolina, New 
Jersey and Connecticut.

The 36-year-old landfill currently accepts nuclear power plant debris 
and items such as radioactive hospital clothing from 34 states, where 
it is buried, said Michael Benjamin, a manager at Chem-Nuclear.

A bill by Rep. Billy Witherspoon, R-Conway, would allow the facility 
to continue accepting the material through 2023, but some 
environmentalists oppose the plan. Witherspoon leads the House 
agriculture and environmental committee that will consider the bill.

EnergySolutions, a Utah-based company that operates the site owned by 
the state, invited an 18-member House committee to tour the facility 
Wednesday. At first, the company denied a request by an 
environmentalist to attend, which raised questions about whether the 
trip violated the state's Freedom of Information Act. Eventually it 
was opened to the public.

About 60 people, including 15 of the 18 legislators on Witherspoon's 
committee, toured the site.

Rep. Laurie Funderburk, D-Camden, said she was surprised by how much 
room was left at the landfill. She also found it interesting only 
grass could be planted on top of trenches because tree roots could be 
a problem growing into where the waste is buried.

The site, among the county's biggest employers, is financially 
important to the local economy and surrounding schools. 

The site's contributions make up roughly 10 percent of Barnwell 
County's overall budget, and supply $1 million split among the 
county's three school districts.

"If it closes, we're in deep trouble," said County Council member 
Lowell Jowers. "This is a vital part of this county."
---------------

TEPCO finds more nuclear lapses, no shutdowns now

TOKYO, March 1 (Reuters) - Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has found 
more past data falsifications at its nuclear power plants in addition 
to nearly 200 improper modifications of technical data discovered in 
January, the utility and the government said on Thursday. 
But the latest discoveries are unlikely, at least for now, to spark a 
scandal like one in 2003 that closed all of TEPCO's nuclear power 
generators for inspections, the government and industry analysts 
said. 

An official with the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, a unit of 
Japan's Trade Ministry, who was asked if the government would order 
TEPCO to shut any nuclear units, said it had given the company a 
month to finish going over its records. 

"The government has told (TEPCO) to continue to inspect past records 
of all of its power generation facilities for such inappropriate 
matters as data falsifications, and to report results by the end of 
March," he said. 

"Then we will make the final decision. But the reported 
falsifications are not happening now and they do not threaten 
operational safety. Many of them are old and are past the statute of 
limitations." 

TEPCO said it had found lapses at six of its 17 nuclear units as well 
as other thermal and hydro power plants. The utility reported them to 
the government on Thursday. 

TEPCO had failed to report unplanned shutdowns at its Kashiwazaki 
Kariwa nuclear plant, the world's largest, in 1992 and its Fukushima 
Daini plant in 1985, even though utilities are required to report 
such closures to regulators immediately, the Safety Agency official 
said. 

Both plants are located in northern Japan. 

TEPCO said in January it had discovered 199 improper data 
modifications made from 1977 to 2002 at three nuclear power plants 
and two thermal plants. 

A spate of recent discoveries of data modifications have spurred 
public concern that Tokyo may again face the risk of a blackout as it 
did after TEPCO's cover-ups of safety blunders in 2003. 

However, industry analyst Shigeki Matsumoto with Nomura Securities 
Co. said the scandal was unlikely to repeat itself. 

"The possibility is not entirely zero, as the complete results are 
due in March and something may come out. But chances are slim," he 
said. 

"Previously, TEPCO covered up cracks at nuclear reactor cores. But 
the most recent inspections have not found such a bad practice, which 
can threaten operational safety," he said. 

TEPCO Managing Director Ichiro Takekuro, who also serves as chief 
nuclear officer, told a news briefing the utility had checked 
substantial parts of its facilities. 

TEPCO runs 17 of Japan's 55 nuclear power units, providing Tokyo and 
the surrounding area with electricity equivalent to the entire demand 
of Britain. 

In 2002, the utility admitted it had falsified nuclear safety data 
for more than a decade. Public objections and the government 
instructions forced TEPCO to shut each unit for inspections. 

All of them were briefly shut at the same time in 2003, prompting 
TEPCO to ask the public to save electricity in order to avoid a 
blackout.
----------------

Westinghouse, Shaw Group Ink Framework Agreement to Provide Four 
AP1000 Nuclear Power Plants in China

BEIJING, March 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Westinghouse Electric 
Company and its consortium partner, The Shaw Group, Inc., (NYSE: SGR -
 News) announced they have successfully negotiated a framework 
agreement with China's State Nuclear Power Technology Company (SNPTC) 
to provide four AP1000 nuclear power plants in China. For the media 
and press, a formal signing of the framework agreement was held on 
March 1 with senior Chinese government officials in attendance.
 
The framework agreement confirms the basic requirements and 
obligations of all parties involved and includes significant funding 
for long lead materials and early engineering. The agreement follows 
the selection of the Westinghouse Consortium as the technology 
partner for the next generation of nuclear power plants that was 
announced 10 weeks ago. The selection of the Westinghouse consortium 
by SNPTC was the result of an extensive and rigorous two-year 
competitive bidding process.

Final contracts for the four plants, to be constructed at the Sanmen 
and Haiyang sites, will be finalized by mid year. Construction is 
expected to begin in 2009, with the first plant becoming operational 
in 2013.

Jim Fici, Sr. Vice President of Customer Relations and Sales, signed 
the framework agreement for Westinghouse: "This is a very significant 
milestone in the process that will result in the introduction of the 
Westinghouse AP1000 to China," he said. "More importantly, reaching 
the framework agreement in such a timely manner demonstrates the 
positive and growing relationships between SNPTC and the Westinghouse 
consortium. It also proves the commitment of all parties to bring 
these first four plants on line in a timely and efficient manner."

Westinghouse, a group company of Toshiba Corporation, is the world's 
pioneering nuclear power company and is a leading supplier of nuclear 
plant products and technologies to utilities throughout the world.

Westinghouse, with Shaw, supplied the world's first PWR in 1957 in 
Shippingport, Pa. Today, Westinghouse technology is the basis for 
approximately one-half of the world's operating nuclear plants, 
including 60 percent of those in the United States.
------------------

Diablo gets assessment timeline 

Responding to a federal court order, the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission on Feb. 26 ordered its staff to prepare a new assessment 
of the potential environmental effects of a terrorist attack on 
Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant's dry cask storage project.

The staff has 90 days to complete the study, which will explore the 
likelihood of such an attack and possible consequences.

The order comes as a result of a lawsuit filed by watchdog group San 
Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace. In the lawsuit, the group said the NRC 
hadn't taken an attack into account when it licensed power company 
PG&E to construct the casks, which will hold Diablo Canyon's spent 
fuel rods.

The plant's current in-plant storage facilities are nearing capacity.

"We will be watching to be sure the resulting study is done 
thoroughly and in accordance with federal law and the Ninth Circuit 
Court ruling," Mothers for Peace spokeswoman Jane Swanson said in a 
statement.
------------

OSHA Seeks Information From Stakeholders on Ionizing Radiation

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Occupational 
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is inviting the public to 
participate in informal stakeholder meetings on Occupational Exposure 
to Ionizing Radiation. These planned meetings will continue OSHA's 
information collection efforts and will add to the information 
obtained in the Request for Information published on May 5, 2005. 

"These meetings are an exceptional opportunity for us to hear from 
stakeholders and exchange data, share ideas and varying points of 
view," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, Edwin G. Foulke, 
Jr. 

The first stakeholder meeting will be held March 16, 2007, at the 
Department of Labor, Frances Perkins Building, 200 Constitution Ave. 
N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210. The meeting will cover the uses of 
ionizing radiation in the healing arts (including medicine, 
dentistry, chiropractor service, veterinary service, etc.). 

The second stakeholder meeting will be held in conjunction with the 
American Society for Nondestructive Testing's Annual Research 
Symposium in Orlando, Fla., March 26, 2007. All meetings will begin 
at 8:30 a.m. and will end by 4:30 p.m. 

OSHA requests the public be prepared to discuss the following issues 
regarding occupational exposure to ionizing radiation in their 
industry/occupation: uses of ionizing radiation, controls utilized to 
minimize exposure and available exposure data and training. 

Those who wish to participate in a stakeholder meeting must notify 
OSHA by e-mail at navas.liset at dol.gov, FAX at (202) 693-1678, or by 
mail to Liset Navas, Directorate of Standards and Guidance, 
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of 
Labor, Room N3718, 200 Constitution Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 
20210 no later than March 9, 2007. 

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are 
responsible for providing a safe and healthful workplace for their 
employees. OSHA's role is to assure the safety and health of 
America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards; 
providing training, outreach, and education; establishing 
partnerships; and encouraging continual process improvement in 
workplace safety and health. For more information, visit 
http://www.osha.gov/. 

This news release text is on the Internet at http://www.osha.gov/. 
Information on this release will be made available to sensory 
impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 693-1999.
-------------------

Sandy Perle
Senior Vice President, Technical Operations
Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc.
2652 McGaw Avenue
Irvine, CA 92614 

Tel: (949) 296-2306 / (888) 437-1714  Extension 2306
Fax:(949) 296-1144

E-Mail: sperle at dosimetry.com
E-Mail: sandyfl at cox.net 

Global Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/ 
Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com/