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Belgian lower house passes nuclear phase-out bill
Index:
Belgian lower house passes nuclear phase-out bill
Minnesota fight looms over Xcel nuclear waste plans
AECL, Bechtel Forge Closer Ties on Advanced CANDU Reactor
NRC OKs output hike at Progress Energy's Fla. nuke
Irradiated Patients May Set Off Devices
Nev. Outlines Opposition to Waste Site
Leak Prompted Texas Reactor Shutdown
=====================================
Belgian lower house passes nuclear phase-out bill
BRUSSELS, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Belgium's lower house early on Friday
passed a controversial bill to shut down the country's seven nuclear
reactors by 2025, emulating similar moves by Germany and other
European countries.
The Chamber of Deputies, which has been passing a slew of bills ahead
of the Christmas holidays, approved the bill with 86 in favour, 49
against and five abstaining, according to a chamber spokesman.
The move is controversial because Belgium gets nearly 60 percent of
its electricity from the reactors, making it the country most
dependent on nuclear power after France.
The bill, presented by Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt's cabinet,
orders the shutting of the reactors after 40 years of use and bans
the construction of new ones.
"The first reactors will be dismantled by February 2015, the last in
2025," read a statement from Secretary of State for Energy Olivier
Deleuze, a Green party member who championed the bill.
Electrabel, Belgium's dominant power utility that operates the
reactors, denounced the vote.
"We deplore this decision because there is today not any single
reason, be it technical, economic or ecological, to close the plants
ahead of time," spokeswoman Francoise Vanthemsche told local VRT
radio.
Its shares were off 0.3 percent at 236.30 euros.
VIABLE ALTERNATIVES?
Vanthemsche said the government should have conducted a study on
viable alternatives to nuclear power before introducing such a bill.
The government will invest in solar, wind and other renewable energy
resources as well as build more gas and co-generation plants to
compensate for the loss of nuclear power.
The bill, which follows a pledge made by Verhofstadt when it took
office three years ago, aims at eliminating the risk of a disastrous
accident at one of the reactors and reducing the dangers of
radioactive waste.
It goes next week to the Senate, which usually has one to two months
to call a vote on a bill.
Politicians who opposed the bill doubted that the country would be
able to meet its future energy needs without paying higher costs for
it.
But Deleuze has argued that the gradual opening of the country's
energy market to competition would keep the cost of electricity down.
He has also said the government is obliged to ensure the country gets
the power it needs to function properly.
One study has foreseen the country relying on natural gas for 85
percent of its energy needs. Such a heavy reliance on a single source
has been seen as making the country vulnerable to fluctuating gas
prices.
Belgium's dilemma is the same as that faced elsewhere in Europe,
where nuclear energy meets about a third of consumers' needs.
Puilaetco analyst Sophie Rouard said in a research note that the
motives behind the bill were political rather economic.
"We believe that the bill could still be reviewed (by) other
governments if there are not enough replacement energy sources," she
said.
-------------------
Minnesota fight looms over Xcel nuclear waste plans
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Environmental groups in Minnesota
pledged to fight Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy's push to store more
radioactive waste at its nuclear power plants in the state, a move
likely to stir up debate over where to safely store the nation's
increasing pile of used atomic fuel.
The battle is also expected to be a hot issue in the new Minnesota
Legislature convening in January.
The nuclear power industry has been searching for a permanent dump
site for more than 15 years but has run into tough opposition from
environmentalists and state legislatures. A site has been selected in
the Nevada desert but faces legal challenges and is not expected to
be ready before 2010 at the earliest.
Minnesota environmentalists are angry that Xcel <XEL.N> is
campaigning to relax state storage limits it agreed to in 1994, and
they are pressing the company to develop more renewable power
supplies like wind and solar electricity.
Minnesota chapters of the Sierra Club and the Clean Water Action
Alliance said they will rally their 85,000 members and other
environmental groups to thwart Xcel's effort to win the legislature's
approval for more storage at its Prairie Island and Monticello
nuclear stations.
"This will be a big fight. There is a broad consensus in the
environmental community that Xcel has not pushed hard enough to move
away from nuclear power and develop more supplies of renewable
energy," Scott Elkins, director of the local Sierra Club, told
Reuters.
PLANTS THREATENED
Xcel, in a report to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission
Monday, said the state's limit on nuclear waste storage imposed in
1994 likely will force the closing of the twin-reactor Prairie Island
plant in 2007 and the Monticello single reactor in 2010 if more room
is not approved.
The two plants produce about 1,700 megawatts of electricity, or power
for 1.7 million homes. The stations -- Minnesota's only nuclear units
-- account for about 11 percent of the company's total generating
capacity at 80 plants it operates in six states.
The 1994 Minnesota law limited storage of used nuclear fuel at
Prairie Island to 17 above-ground concrete containers known as dry
casks, although the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission had
permitted up to 48 casks.
The casks now are full, but there is still storage space in a waste
pool at the plant, an Xcel spokeswoman said.
The Monticello plant puts its waste fuel in a storage pool, which
will be full by 2010.
Like other nuclear plant operators, Xcel had expected used fuel
eventually would be shipped to a federal nuclear dump.
Nuclear plants, which generate 20 percent of the nation's
electricity, have about 44,000 tonnes of waste fuel stored in pools
and casks -- enough to cover a football field 15 feet (4.6 meters)
deep -- and are producing another 2,000 tonnes of waste each year.
NEVADA DUMP FIGHT
A $58 billion underground dump is scheduled to open in 2010 at
Nevada's Yucca Mountain north of Las Vegas and store up to 70,000
tonnes of radioactive waste for 10,000 years.
The state of Nevada, however, has refused to give up a long-running
fight to block the waste project and is pursuing court challenges.
Xcel and other utilities also are pushing for a private temporary
above-ground dump on Indian-owned land in Utah.
In Minnesota, the Prairie Island Indian Community, which is next door
to Xcel's plant, opposes more storage but said "the tribe has been
willing to sit down with Xcel and the state to discuss possible
solutions that would address the tribe's health and safety needs, and
allow the plant to continue operating."
Others, however, insist that Xcel must stick with the 1994 limits.
"This debate already happened and a decision was made in 1994 that if
there was no storage outside Minnesota, then the plant must shut
down," said Diana McKeown, energy program coordinator for Clean Water
Action Alliance.
McKeown and the Sierra Club's Elkins also said nuclear plants and
radioactive waste make tempting targets for terrorists, so Minnesota
should develop more safe, clean and renewable energy to displace
nuclear power.
"Security was not on the radar screen in 1994 when the limits were
set. Now it is a major concern," Elkins said.
Dave Sparby, vice president of regulatory and government affairs at
Xcel, said "we will ask the legislature to act in 2003 because, if
nuclear generation is to remain in the state's energy mix, we need to
make many decisions soon to keep our two nuclear plants operating in
the future."
If nuclear is not in the mix, Minnesota will have to line up
replacement power, Sparby said.
------------------
AECL, Bechtel Forge Closer Ties on Advanced CANDU Reactor
WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Atomic Energy of Canada
Limited (AECL) and Bechtel today announced they will work together on
the deployment of the Advanced CANDU Reactor(TM) (ACR(TM)).
AECL President and Chief Executive Officer Robert Van Adel and
Bechtel Nuclear President James Reinsch said that AECL and Bechtel
will establish a project team in Bechtel's Frederick, Maryland,
office for the deployment of the ACR in the United States. According
to Van Adel, the agreement combines AECL's expertise as an innovative
technology developer and international project manager with Bechtel's
premier engineering and project management skills.
The ACR is an evolutionary design based on AECL's well-proven 700-
megawatt class CANDU nuclear power plant. It features light-water
coolant, heavy-water moderator, and slightly enriched fuel. The ACR
represents a competitive package geared to a 36-month construction
schedule. It currently is in preapplication review with the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission and has a parallel licensing track with
the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.
Reinsch stated that "AECL and Bechtel have had a successful project
with the construction of two CANDU 6 reactors at the Qinshan Phase
III site in China. The new ACR agreement is as a logical extension of
this relationship." First electricity has been generated by one unit
in China and both units will go on line in 2003. The project is on
budget and ahead of schedule.
---------------------
NRC OKs output hike at Progress Energy's Fla. nuke
NEW YORK, Dec 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
said Friday it approved a request by Progress Energy <PGN.N> unit
Florida Power Corp. to increase the generating capacity of the
Crystal River 3 nuclear unit in Florida by 0.9 percent, or 8
megawatts.
The generating capacity at the unit, located near Red Level, Florida,
will immediately increase to 903 megawatts, the NRC said in a
statement.
One megawatt of electricity is roughly enough to power 1,000 homes.
The NRC said it approved the increase after publishing a notice about
the application in the Federal Register, providing the public an
opportunity to comment or request a hearing.
No comments or hearing requests were received, the NRC said.
The agency added that its safety evaluation focused on several areas,
including nuclear steam supply systems, instrumentation and control
systems, electrical systems, accident evaluations, radiological
consequences, operations, and other technical specification changes.
-------------------
Irradiated Patients May Set Off Devices
CHICAGO (AP) - Patients treated with radioactive materials may be
setting off anti-terrorism devices installed in public places,
according to a medical journal letter detailing a case that occurred
in the New York subway.
The case involved a 34-year-old man with a thyroid condition who was
being treated with radioactive iodine.
Three weeks after treatment, he complained to his doctors that he'd
been strip-searched twice at Manhattan subway stations.
``Police had identified him as emitting radiation and had detained
him for further questioning,'' according to the letter in Wednesday's
Journal of the American Medical Association.
``He returned to the clinic and requested a letter stating that he
had recently been treated with radioactive iodine,'' said the letter
from Drs. Christoph Buettner and Martin Surks of Albert Einstein
College of Medicine.
The experience suggests that radiation detection devices are being
installed in public places in New York and perhaps elsewhere and that
patients should be informed of the potential problem, the doctors
said.
They said they called New York's terrorism task force for advice and
were told that doctors should give patients letters describing the
isotope used, its dose and date of treatment. Such letters should
also include doctors' phone numbers to allow police to verify the
information, the physicians said they were told.
``Even in the best-case scenerio, however, the patient would have to
wait during this verification process,'' the doctors said.
Patients may choose to avoid public transportation to escape the
problem, the doctors said.
Tom Kelly, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority
in New York City, said he knew nothing of the man's case or the
journal letter.
Michael O'Looney, spokesman for the New York Police Department, said
police have no record of the incident and have not developed any
official policy for such circumstances.
Radioactive materials have a variety of medical uses, including
cancer treatment and diagnostic imaging tests. In the case detailed
in JAMA, it was used to treat Graves' disease, an autoimmune disorder
that causes excessive production of thyroid hormones.
Former President Bush was treated for the condition with radioactive
iodine in 1991.
----------------------
Nev. Outlines Opposition to Waste Site
WASHINGTON (AP) - A decision to bury thousands of tons of nuclear
waste in Nevada should be overturned because the government cannot
assure the site's geology will keep radiation from seeping into the
environment, the state of Nevada argues in a court filing.
The brief, filed in a suit challenging the decision to entomb the
waste at Yucca Mountain, maintains that the Energy Department
violated the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act by resorting to
``engineered barriers'' to contain the waste.
In papers filed Monday with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington,
the state argues that the Bush administration was
``essentially abandoning'' the 1982 law's ``mandate that the site's
geology form the primary isolation barrier'' in selecting the Yucca
Mountain site for waste burial.
The mountain is a ridge of volcanic rock and ash about 90 miles
northwest of Las Vegas, adjacent to the Nevada Test Site. Last
February, President Bush declared it scientifically suitable and safe
as the nation's central repository for 77,000 tons of waste from
commercial reactors and the government's nuclear weapons program.
After Nevada challenged the decision, Congress endorsed the
president's declaration in July and overturned what could have been a
veto of the site by Nevada. The Energy Department is seeking a
license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and hopes to open
the waste repository by 2010.
But Nevada, joined by the city of Las Vegas and surrounding Clark
County, has promised to continue the fight in court and filed a
number of lawsuits challenging the project.
In a 100-page filing in support of its lawsuit before the appeals
court, Nevada contends that the 1982 law that directed construction
of
a federal nuclear waste repository specifically required that natural
geology at the site ``form the primary barrier keeping waste from
people and the environment'' over tens of thousands of years.
The suit also argues that the Energy Department conducted a ``flawed
environmental review'' of the Yucca site, disregarded
procedures required under the law in determining the site's
suitability and failed to assess adequately problems involving the
transportation of waste to the site.
Yucca Mountain initially was chosen because Energy Department
scientists believed it had the geology required to contain the
waste. They later found it did not and adopted a ``total system
performance'' approach in violation of the 1982 law, the state argues
in its suit.
Now, the suit maintains, the project relies extensively on manmade
barriers - metal alloy waste containers and drip shields, for
example - to keep waste from escaping.
The Energy Department had no immediate response to the Nevada court
filing.
Nevada officials have made similar arguments repeatedly in public
meetings and in outlining their opposition to the Yucca Mountain
project over the years.
Energy Department officials have maintained the site is in full
compliance with the 1982 requirements, it relies on geology to
contain
the waste and the engineered barriers only provide additional
protection.
Congress declared in 1987 that Yucca Mountain should be the only site
to be considered for nuclear waste disposal. Since then,
nearly $7 billion has been spent on studying the area's geology and
developing a waste package and design.
On the Net: Energy Department's Yucca Mountain site:
http://www.ymp.gov/
Nevada Yucca Mountain site:
http://www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/yucca/state01.htm
-----------------
Leak Prompted Texas Reactor Shutdown
DALLAS (AP) Dec 3 - A reactor at a Texas nuclear power plant was
shut down after a leak of radioactive water, leading to
government scrutiny of the utility's plan for finding such leaks.
Operators shut down the TXU Energy's Comanche Peak twin-reactor plant
well before leakage exceeded federal guidelines, TXU
spokesman David Beshear said Tuesday. They have since repaired
leaking and corroded lines.
``There was never a danger to the safety of the plant, the safety of
the employees or the safety of the public,'' he said. Comanche
Peak is about 80 miles southwest of Dallas.
A report by Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspectors said radiation
monitors inside the plant's Unit 1 sounded alarms after
recording high radiation readings on Sept. 26.
Radiation levels peaked six more times before operators shut down the
reactor two days later, the inspectors said.
The leak was found in a small tube carrying radioactive water in one
of four generators that make steam to turn the reactor's electric
turbines.
The utility's own report to the NRC said a subsequent TXU check found
corrosion in 667 other tubes in Unit 1, but none was leaking.
That number, according to TXU, represented more than 3 percent of the
tubes.
NRC spokesman Roger Hannah said an inspection of the plant focused on
Comanche Peak's system for finding and responding to
leaks.
``What we're interested in is whether they should have picked up on
this earlier,'' he said.
The utility said it was the first unplanned shutdown of the plant,
which returned to service Nov. 11.
David Lochbaum, a nuclear safety engineer with the Union of Concerned
Scientists, said the leak could have quickly developed from
debris in the water or over time if corrosion had been overlooked.
``If it was missed and they had the opportunity to prevent this in
the past and missed it, that's one thing,'' he said. ``But if it
happened randomly, then there was nothing they could do to prevent
this.''
Lochbaum said similar leaks have shut down about a dozen plants in
the past decade.
The Davis-Besse nuclear power plant near Toledo, Ohio, has been shut
down since February because an accumulation of acid nearly ate
through a 6-inch-thick steel reactor cap. That leak, discovered in
March, was the most extensive corrosion ever found on a U.S. nuclear
reactor and led to a nationwide review of 69 similar plants.
On the Net:
Comanche Peak: http://www.txu.com/us/ourbus/elecgen/comanche.asp
-------------------------------------------------
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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