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The following from Sandy Perle:
From: "Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>
To: "nuclear news list" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>
Date: Sat, 9 Mar 2002 09:40:48 -0800
Index:
-----------------
CP&L Brunswick Plant Completes World Record Operating Run
GE shareholder group calls on company to exit nuclear business
Bush ordered plans for nuclear attacks on 7 states: paper
Myanmar told IAEA of nuclear plan last year: sources
-----------------
CP&L Brunswick Plant Completes World Record Operating Run, Shuts Down Unit 1
For Refueling Outage
SOUTHPORT, N.C., March 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Operators at CP&L's
Brunswick Nuclear Plant shut down and disconnected one of the facility's two
units
from the electric grid Friday, March 1 at 10:14 p.m. to begin a scheduled
refueling
and maintenance outage.
Taking Brunswick Unit 1 out of service officially ended the plant's world
record for the
continuous operation of a light-water nuclear reactor. The unit operated
safely and
reliably for 707 days, 5 hours, and 39 minutes since the completion of its
last
refueling outage March 24, 2000.
"The performance of Unit 1 demonstrates that it is possible to continuously
operate a
light-water reactor throughout a two-year fuel cycle," said Jack Keenan,
vice
president of the Brunswick Nuclear Plant. "While we will always shut down a
unit
when needed to ensure safety and reliability, our long-term goal is to
regularly
operate our units 'breaker-to-breaker' between refueling outages."
In January, Brunswick Plant Unit 1 surpassed the previously held world
record of 668
days that had been established in 1999 by Three Mile Island Unit 1.
Worldwide,
there are approximately 430 nuclear power plants located in 31 countries.
Light-
water reactors such as those operated at the Brunswick Plant are in
operation in
nearly 350 of these facilities.
"Equipment reliability and human performance at the Brunswick Plant have
improved
over the years, and we have plans to continue that trend into the future,"
said
Keenan. "In fact, both Brunswick Plant units have operated without being
shut down
since a Unit 2 refueling outage was completed on March 27, 2001,
establishing a
new plant record of 339 days of dual-unit continuous operations."
"The key to our success both now and into the future lies with our dedicated
and
highly skilled workforce," added Keenan. "Our recent accomplishments have
been
made possible by a workplace culture that values continuous improvement,
solid
communications, and good teamwork."
The Brunswick Plant operates on two-year fuel cycles. Each spring, one of
the
plant's reactors is shut down for approximately one month to replace some of
the fuel
and to perform a variety of maintenance activities. The 2002 refueling
outage of
Brunswick Unit 1 is its 14th since beginning commercial operation 25 years
ago. In
addition to refueling the reactor, many maintenance activities that cannot
be
performed while the plant is on line will be completed.
The first phase of a multi-year process to increase the plant's electric
output by
approximately 15 percent will also be implemented during this outage. Major
work
activities include maintenance and upgrades on the main turbine-generator,
several
feedwater heaters and pumps, as well as enhancements to a variety of
monitoring
and control equipment.
Refueling outages at CP&L's four nuclear units located in the Carolinas are
scheduled during the spring and fall seasons when the peak demand for
electricity is
lowest. During these plant outages, other company generating facilities
provide
electricity to customers. Last year, CP&L's nuclear generating plants
produce
approximately 45 percent of the company's total generation.
"The fact that the Brunswick Plant has safely and reliably generated
electricity for
millions of people in the Carolinas can be attributed in large part to the
top quality
work performed in past refueling outages," said Keenan. "Both our CP&L
personnel
and outside resources working this year's outage fully understand the
importance of
an effective and safe outage. We expect to successfully return the plant to
full
service in early April."
The Brunswick Nuclear Plant is located near Southport, N.C. CP&L, a
subsidiary of
Progress Energy (NYSE: PGN), provides electricity and related services to
more than
1.2 million customers in North Carolina and South Carolina. The company is
headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., and serves a territory encompassing over
33,000
miles including the cities of Raleigh, Wilmington, Fayetteville, and
Asheville in North
Carolina and Florence and Sumter in South Carolina. For more information
about
CP&L, visit the company's Web site at: http://www.cpl.com.
-----------------
GE shareholder group calls on company to exit nuclear business
NEW YORK, March 8 (Reuters) - A shareholder group on Friday demanded General
Electric Co.<GE.N>, the world's largest company by market value, to exit the
nuclear
power business because of the financial and environmental costs.
"GE's commitment to a declining industry with growing risk is contrary to
the interests
of GE shareholders and the public," the GE Stockholders' Alliance said in a
proposal
listed in the company's 2001 annual statement.
The group asked for the company's management to issue a report in four
months on
the feasibility of withdrawing from the production of new nuclear power
reactors and
the decommission of GE reactors currently on line. The group recommended,
however, for GE to continue servicing reactors still in use.
The report will assist shareholders and management in bringing GE to a "high
moral
ground of corporate responsibility and leadership", the group said in the
proxy
statement.
Final voting on the proposal, which was mailed out to shareholders today,
will take
place at the company's annual meeting on April 24, Fairfield,
Connecticut-based GE
said. The proposal has been around for several years, a company spokesman
said,
and last year got 6 percent of the votes.
GE's board of directors recommended shareholders to vote against the
proposal. A
company spokesman said GE did not have any additional background information
on
the shareholder group.
-----------------
Bush ordered plans for nuclear attacks on 7 states: paper
LOS ANGELES, March 9 (Kyodo) - The administration of President George W.
Bush
ordered the U.S. military to prepare plans to use nuclear weapons against at
least
seven countries including China, North Korea, Iran and Iraq, the Los Angeles
Times
reported Saturday.
Citing a ''classified Pentagon report,'' the newspaper said the Bush
administration
also ordered production of new, smaller nuclear weapons for use in certain
battlefield
situations such as retaliation for attacks with nuclear, biological or
chemical
weapons.
The three others listed as potential targets are Russia, Libya and Syria,
the
newspaper said. The report entitled ''Nuclear Posture Review'' was signed by
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and provided to Congress on Jan. 8, it
said.
U.S. officials have long acknowledged they had detailed nuclear plans for an
attack
on Russia, the newspaper said. The report apparently marks the first time
that an
official list of potential target countries has come to light, the paper
quoted analysts
as saying.
--------------
Myanmar told IAEA of nuclear plan last year: sources
VIENNA, March 8 (Kyodo) - The military government of Myanmar notified the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) last year of its plan to build a
nuclear
research facility in Myanmar, diplomatic sources said Friday.
IAEA officials have also confirmed that the international nuclear watchdog
agency
has been notified of the Myanmar plan.
The Myanmar government, reacting to U.S. media reports that Myanmar was
building
a nuclear reactor with Russia's help, has acknowledged that Myanmar has a
nuclear
science program and insisted that Myanmar has nothing to hide.
''Our main objective to study nuclear science was for peaceful purposes, for
the
health and agriculture sectors, firstly to produce radio isotopes for
medical purpose,''
Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win told reporters on Jan. 21.
Diplomatic sources said the IAEA received a report from the Myanmar
government
last year that it plans to acquire a small nuclear reactor from Russia as
part of its
nuclear research program.
When the IAEA inquired about the location and the size of the nuclear
reactor, the
Myanmar government told the agency that details had yet to be decided and
they
were holding talks with Russia, the sources said.
The IAEA has told Myanmar to notify the agency of details of the nuclear
facility once
they are firmed up, the sources said.
''We want to continue this program and sought the advice and assistance of
the IAEA
in September 2000...The IAEA sent a delegation to Myanmar in June 2001 and
gave
us the necessary advice in their report,'' Khin Maung Win said.
------------------
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