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Exelon says no plan to restart closed Illinois nuke
Index:
Exelon says no plan to restart closed Illinois nuke
Entergy buy of Vermont nuclear plant cleared
Japan Nuclear Fuel sets fiscal 2002 quota for nuclear waste
US plays down old nuclear dispute with New Zealand
PSEG Nuclear 'All Green', Says Regulators in Annual Assessment
Fugen reactor undergoing checks for brief restart
Indian scientists use radiation to cure flatulence
PNNL Celebrates Arrival of Powerful NMR for Basic Research
=================================
Exelon says no plan to restart closed Illinois nuke
SAN FRANCISCO, March 27 (Reuters) - Exelon Nuclear said on Wednesday it does not plan to restart its 2,080-megawatt Zion
nuclear power plant in Illinois, which was shut down in 1998 after a history of troubled operations.
The company, a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corp. <EXC.N>, said in a statement that over the past year there had been
speculation that the twin-reactor plant on Lake Michigan north of Chicago might be reopened.
Ann Mary Carley, a spokeswoman for Exelon Nuclear, said, however, that after a review, the company decided "the economic
situation at the plant currently doesn't support it reopening."
Carley did not rule out a restart if market conditions supported one, but she noted that Zion would need to make at least $200 million
"big ticket" repairs, including replacement of the plant's steam generators and other upgrades.
The Zion plant, which went into service in December 1973, had a troubled operating history, including equipment breakdowns, and
was on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's "watch list" of problem reactors.
The power plant is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2013 when its federal operating license expires.
Carley estimated it will cost approximately $1 billion to disassemble the Zion plant.
------------------
Entergy buy of Vermont nuclear plant cleared
WASHINGTON, March 27 (Reuters) - Entergy Corp. <ETR.N> was cleared to complete its $180 million purchase of a nuclear power
plant in Vermont with antitrust authorities ending their review with no further action, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on
Wednesday.
The Vermont Yankee plant, built in 1972, is owned by eight New England-based utilities.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in January gave its approval for the sale of the 506 megawatt plant.
The largest shareholders of the Vermont Yankee plant are Central Vermont Public Service Corp. <CV.N>, New England Power Co.,
Green Mountain Power Corp. <GMP.N> and Connecticut Light and Power Co.
----------------
Japan Nuclear Fuel sets fiscal 2002 quota for nuclear waste
AOMORI, Japan, March 27 (Kyodo) - Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. said Wednesday it will accept more than 400 tons of spent nuclear
fuel and 192 canisters of vitrified high-level radioactive waste for safekeeping in fiscal 2002, which begins next month.
The Aomori-based company will store a total of about 403 tons of spent nuclear fuel removed from 12 nuclear reactors nationwide at
facilities in the village of Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan, company officials said.
The 12 reactors are operated by Japan Atomic Power Co. and eight major electric power companies across Japan.
It will also store 192 canisters of vitrified high-level radioactive waste, each holding about 490-500 kilograms of spent nuclear fuel
reprocessed by nuclear fuel firm COGEMA. The French government-owned firm is scheduled to deliver all 192 canisters between
October and March next year, the officials added.
In fiscal 2001, the company accepted and stored about 340 tons of spent nuclear fuel and 152 canisters of vitrified radioactive waste.
The firm was set up in 1980 by nine major electrical utilities, Japan Atomic Power and other firms. Japan operates 51 commercial
nuclear reactors which supply about one-third of the nation's electric power. --------------------
US plays down old nuclear dispute with New Zealand
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand and the United States remain very close friends despite a long disagreement over access to
New Zealand ports for U.S. warships, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday.
"It's one of those areas where we have a disagreement but disagreements between close friends are not that unusual," Powell told
reporters after talks with New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark.
"I have a clear understanding of the government of New Zealand's position and the prime minister certainly understands our position.
We are very, very, very close friends," he added.
Since the late 1980s New Zealand has refused to let U.S. warships dock in its ports unless the United States guarantees they do
not carry nuclear weapons. The United States has refused to give such guarantees.
The dispute effectively pushes New Zealand out of ANZUS, the Australia, New Zealand and United States defense pact.
Powell said he thanked Clark for New Zealand's support in the U.S. "war on terrorism." New Zealand sent a small number of elite
troops to fight alongside U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
Clark will have talks with President Bush at the White House later Tuesday.
-----------------
PSEG Nuclear 'All Green', Says Regulators in Annual Assessment Meeting
HANCOCK'S BRIDGE, N.J., March 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- PSEG Nuclear's Salem and Hope Creek Nuclear Units received
positive ratings in its most recent performance report from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The report covered the period
from April 1, 2001 through December 31, 2001, and the NRC determined that the plants operated in a manner that preserved public
health and safety and fully met all cornerstone objectives.
The report covered the period from April 1, 2001 through December 31, 2001. During that time, the NRC conducted numerous
targeted inspections at PSEG Nuclear in addition to the daily monitoring done by the commission's inspectors stationed at the
plant. The "green" assessment indicates the units are within the Licensee Response Column of the NRC's Action Matrix based on
all inspections findings being classified as having very low safety significance and all Performance Indicators indicating performance
at a level requiring no additional NRC oversight.
"Our performance has improved for the past four consecutive years, due to the dedication and commitment of our employees," says
Harry Keiser, President and Chief Nuclear Officer. "This report card from the NRC is further evidence of our progress."
PSEG Nuclear operates Salem Units 1 and 2, two 1,100 megawatt pressurized water reactors, and Hope Creek, a 1,050 megawatt
boiling water reactor. The three units are located on one site in Salem County, NJ, and together comprise the second largest
nuclear site in the country.
-------------------
Fugen reactor undergoing checks for brief restart
TSURUGA, Japan, March 28 (Kyodo) - By: Kazui Nii Antinuclear activists and others are furious that the Fugen advanced thermal
reactor (ATR) in western Japan, which was shut down last May following a radioactive leak and is to be dismantled, is to resume
operations for 10 months.
''The Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute, which will spend huge amounts of money to operate the reactor for less than a
year, lacks a sense of citizenship,'' said Kiyoshi Yoshimura, a former Tsuruga municipal assembly member who has long
campaigned against nuclear power generation.
The 165,000-kilowatt ATR, run by the government-operated institute in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, facing the Sea of Japan, is
undergoing final checks for the restart before being finally shut down at the end of March next year, according to the operator.
Even if the reactor is restarted in May as scheduled, it will have to shut down in November for a fuel change. As a result, it will
actually operate for only 10 months.
The institute shut down the ATR after a tritium leak was detected between the outside of the reactor container and the concrete wall
surrounding the facility. The tritium had leaked from a pipe in the space.
The institute estimates the cost of the final checks at 4.9 billion yen, including 900 million yen to replace an 85-meter-long pipe.
Opponents said the checks are a waste of tax revenues, but an institute official said, ''Continued operation is quite meaningful, to get
as much data as possible.''
Fugen, named after a Buddhist saint, is a light-water-cooled reactor using heavy water as a moderator that facilitates nuclear fission.
Heavy water is used as a moderator for efficient use of fuel, but it costs 50,000 yen per liter. Fugen uses as much as 200,000 liters
of heavy water.
''It's like guzzling super high-quality whiskey,'' an institute official said.
Fugen's development has cost 280 billion yen, three times the cost of a typical nuclear reactor, and the electric power industry,
which was to shoulder its future development expenses, has backed away, forcing the institute to decide to shut it down.
The Japanese government initially was scheduled to stop the operation in fiscal 2000 but postponed it until the end of fiscal 2002 at
the request of the Tsuruga municipal government and local businesses, who are worried about the effects on employment in the
region.
''Should the operation be suspended, the local community cannot benefit from nuclear fuel taxes and spending for construction
work,'' a former senior municipal official said.
''But it may be irresponsible to say that if Fugen had been suspended as originally scheduled, there would not have been such
wasteful spending,'' he said, with a wry smile.
The former municipal assembly member criticized the state's inconsistent energy policy, saying, ''The state bowed its head to bring
Fugen, but now it has quickly withdrawn from it. I wonder how long the state can take care of Monju.''
Monju is a fast-breeder nuclear reactor also located in Tsuruga. It has been shut down since a sodium coolant leak in 1995, and the
government is considering whether to allow the institute to modify the reactor and restart it.
------------------
Indian scientists use radiation to cure flatulence
LONDON, March 27 (Reuters) - Indian scientists have come up with a cure for flatulence, by blasting guilty foodstuffs such as beans
with gamma rays to knock out the offending chemicals that cause the problem, New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday.
Bacteria in the large intestine are responsible for the gases that cause flatulence, and when these bugs eat certain types of
carbohydrate called oligosaccharides they produce a mixture of methane and smelly sulphurous gases, which cause the social
embarrassment.
The finger of blame is most commonly pointed at beans and vegetables, 60 percent of whose carbohydrates are made up of
oligosaccharides.
So Jammala Machaiah and Mrinal Pednekar in the food-science laboratory at India's Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Trombay
decided to see whether small doses of radiation affected these carbohydrates in various beans common in Indian cuisine.
Using standard food treatment technology, they irradiated samples of mung beans, chickpeas, black-eyed beans and red kidney
beans with a low-intensity gamma-ray, before giving the beans their standard two day soak prior to cooking.
The scientists, whose research will appear in the journal Food Chemistry, found the irradiation dramatically accelerated a reduction
in oligosaccharides which occurs naturally in the soaking process, the magazine said.
After two days soaking, the levels of oligosaccharides in mung beans had fallen by 70 percent, compared to a 35 percent reduction
in un-irradiated, but soaked, beans.
Black-eyed beans and chickpeas also showed a marked fall but kidney beans were found to hold stubbornly onto their
oligosaccharides.
"In India, beans are a very popular and important part of the national diet, but some people can't eat a lot of beans because of the
flatulence problem," Machaiah said.
"This is unfortunate as it is a very good source of essential nutrients. Irradiation would make beans less of a problem."
-------------------
PNNL Celebrates Arrival of Powerful NMR for Basic Research; 900 NMR Spectroscopy May Enable New Discoveries in Chemical,
Physical, Biological and Life Sciences
RICHLAND, Wash.--(BW HealthWire)--March 28, 2002--The Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory today
celebrated the arrival of the world's largest, highest-performance nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer -- a first-of-its-kind 900
megahertz (MHz) wide-bore system developed by Oxford Instruments and Varian, Inc.
The 900 MHz wide-bore nuclear magnetic resonance, or NMR, spectrometer is a powerful scientific instrument that may enable
scientists to make new discoveries in the chemical, physical, biological and life sciences. When operational, this unique system
could enhance understanding of basic molecular and cellular processes and how those relate to damage or repair to DNA, disease
development and protein interactions.
NMR spectrometers are similar to the magnetic resonance imagers commonly used in hospitals yet use much stronger magnetic
fields and are able to study much smaller samples than the human body. NMR spectrometers allow scientists to determine the
three-dimensional structure of molecules, viewing them atom-by-atom to obtain detailed structural pictures of complex proteins.
These proteins may be associated with debilitating diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
"This spectrometer will be a state-of-the-art instrument that should enable us to gain new insight into biological phenomena and
deliver breakthrough science and technology," according to PNNL Director Lura Powell.
Installation of the system will complete the suite of advanced instrumentation housed in the William R. Wiley Environmental
Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a DOE scientific user facility at PNNL. As a user instrument, the 900 MHz NMR will be available to
other scientists through a competitive proposal process.
"We're proud to make this novel tool available to the worldwide scientific community. We want to share our capabilities so other
scientists can make new discoveries important to us all," Powell said. "We appreciate the sustained effort by Oxford and Varian in
making this possible."
Over the last several years, Oxford Instruments of Oxford, England, constructed the 900 MHz wide-bore magnet, which was
energized in England this past December. The magnet was delivered to PNNL on March 10 and lifted by crane into EMSL on March
13. Varian, Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif., provided the rest of the NMR system, including the electronics, console, detectors, software and
workstation. Both companies now will integrate and install the system, energize the magnet -- called "bringing it to field" -- and
evaluate the system's performance over the next few months. The first studies using the instrument are expected to begin late this
summer.
Over the past 40 years, scientists have used NMR technology to advance their understanding of chemistry and molecular structure.
The laboratory's 900 MHz wide-bore system is part of a global shift toward development of larger and more powerful NMRs. Greater
power provides the opportunity to study larger molecules individually and in group interactions in greater detail. When PNNL ordered
the 900 MHz wide-bore system, the most powerful NMR in existence was 600 MHz. With its larger bore size and power, PNNL's
new system will allow scientists to study molecules and cells at greater resolution, thereby facilitating more detailed views of a cell's
physical and chemical properties and innerworkings.
DOE's Office of Biological and Environmental Research funded the 900 MHz wide-bore NMR magnet's development with $7.2 million,
of which a $1.2 million final payment will be made when it is operational.
Business inquiries on PNNL research and technologies should be directed to 1-888-375-PNNL or e-mail: inquiry@pnl.gov.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a DOE research facility and delivers breakthrough science and technology in the areas of
environment, energy, health, fundamental sciences and national security. Battelle, based in Columbus, Ohio, has operated the
laboratory for DOE since 1965.
Oxford Instruments, Superconductivity is a global leader of high-field superconducting magnets and low-temperature cryogenic
systems. Over 5,000 Oxford Instruments magnets are advancing NMR research applications worldwide. The company is committed
to quality and innovation and won the prestigious R&D 100 award for the engineering and unique design for the manufacture of the
world's first fully operational high-field 900 MHz magnet. Its customers are leading research institutes worldwide who are fully
supported by a first-class customer support team for installation, maintenance and service. Additional information is available at
www.oxford-instruments.com.
For background information on NMR, how it works, its importance and its applications, go to: http://www.varianinc.com/cgi-
bin/nav?varinc/docs/nmr/about&cid=896004 http://www.howstuffworks.com/mri.htm.
-------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle
Director, Technical
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service
ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100 Extension 2306
Fax:(714) 668-3149
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net
E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com
Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com
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