Nuclear Power Industry News

USEC Inc. announced yesterday that they have entered into a multi-party arrangement with Energy Northwest, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) to extend uranium enrichment operations at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Paducah, Ky.

Under the agreements, DOE will provide high-assay depleted uranium hexafluoride, also known as tails, to Energy Northwest. Energy Northwest has contracted with USEC to re-enrich the tails into low enriched uranium. Energy Northwest will utilize a portion of the low enriched uranium for its Columbia Nuclear Generating Station and will sell the remainder of the U.S.-origin low enriched uranium to TVA for use in TVA’s reactors, including reactors that are used to produce tritium, a vital component for maintaining the U.S. nuclear deterrent. TVA will supply the power for the re-enrichment under an agreement to extend the existing USEC-TVA power contract.

"USEC is pleased to deliver on one of its stated objectives to extend Paducah operations on an economically sound basis," said John Welch, USEC president and CEO. "This agreement represents a multipoint win for government and industry that allows taxpayers to realize value by converting depleted uranium tails into an asset. At the same time it provides material critical to our national defense that can only come from U.S. technology."

The Department of Energy approved the transaction on May 15 following approvals by the USEC, TVA and Energy Northwest boards of directors. An independent review performed by Energy Resources International concluded the transaction is consistent with the DOE’s policy of minimal impact on the U.S. uranium market. Energy Northwest and TVA plan to use the enriched uranium in their reactors over many years, so as to not have a material adverse impact on the markets.

The agreement calls for DOE to provide Energy Northwest with approximately 9,000 metric tons of high-assay depleted uranium. USEC will enrich the tails to make about 480 metric tons of low enriched uranium. The work, combined with other ongoing USEC commercial obligations, will require approximately five million separative work units (SWU), a standard measure of uranium enrichment that represents the effort that is required to increase the concentration of the U-235 isotope in the uranium.

“This multi-faceted agreement creates advantages for all the parties involved,” said John M. A. Donelson, USEC vice president of marketing, sales, and power. “It preserves a vital domestic source of uranium enrichment for national security purposes and helps bridge the gap between Paducah’s production and the American Centrifuge technology. I am also pleased that we have extended our power supply agreement with TVA in a mutually beneficial manner.”

The agreement converts U.S. government depleted uranium into valuable nuclear fuel to power and light homes in the Pacific Northwest and the Tennessee Valley and delays costs to the U.S. government associated with maintaining the facility in safe shutdown if it were to cease enrichment operations at the end of this month. It continues USEC’s position as TVA’s largest industrial electricity customer while minimizing any impact on the domestic uranium market.

“This is a complex deal, and on behalf of the USEC employees whose jobs will be saved, I want to thank all the parties that came together to execute this business transaction that will serve our nation’s near-term national security needs,” said Steven R. Penrod, USEC vice president of enrichment operations. “We especially want to thank Senators McConnell and Paul and Representative Whitfield for their leadership and persistence bringing this to a successful conclusion, and in particular for their tireless efforts to protect the workers at the Paducah facility.”

The work will take about 12 months and supports a one-year extension of Paducah enrichment operations. The overall tails disposal liability of the U.S. government will be reduced as a result of the agreement and subsequent processing.

Paducah Background

The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, owned by DOE and leased and operated by USEC, is the only uranium enrichment facility capable of providing U.S.-origin uranium (enriched with U.S. technology) needed for the U.S. government’s tritium replenishment program, which supports maintaining the country’s nuclear deterrent. The Paducah plant is the largest uranium enrichment plant in the United States, accounting for nearly all current U.S. enriched uranium production, and has operated for almost 60 years.

USEC Inc., a global energy company, is a supplier of enriched uranium fuel and nuclear industry related services for commercial nuclear power plants.

Energy Northwest is a joint operating agency and municipal corporation of the State of Washington.

The Bonneville Power Administration is a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Energy.

The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation and a supplier of power to the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant.

At a conference Monday, Ghana’s deputy energy minister reiterated his government’s plans to pursue commercial nuclear power as a way to meet surging demand for electricity in West Africa.

Alhaji Inusah Fuseini was speaking in Accra, the Ghanaian capital, at the Cooperation and Networking for Nuclear Power Programme in Africa conference, organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency, an African regional organization and the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission. The event was created to bring a number of countries to the table to improve collaboration on electrical infrastructure and nuclear expertise.

The Africa Report quoted Fuseini as saying Ghana’s long-term energy demands are expected to exceed planned power generation because of increased commercial and industrial activity. As part of its response, he said Ghana is in the process of setting up organizations to coordinate the planning of nuclear power projects.

In the more immediate term, the country is also considering a range of currently available energy sources like gas and hydro to more than double the country’s power generation by 2015.

According to the World Nuclear Association, Ghana produced more than two thirds of its electricity from hydro power in 2006. It joined the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership in 2007, and the next year the government announced a goal of 400 megawatts of nuclear generation by 2018.

A Westinghouse subsidiary and a Chinese heavy equipment manufacturer have announced a joint venture to provide cranes and other products to China’s growing nuclear power industry.

PaR-TZ Nuclear Company will be a joint venture of PaR Nuclear and Taiyuan Heavy Machinery Group, with the former holding a majority stake. Based in Taiyuan, China, the new firm will provide crane components and fuel handling equipment, in addition to assembly services and spare parts.

"There is a large, nuclear-specific market for crane components, fuel-handling equipment, spare parts, and outage and installation services in China," PaR Nuclear President Bill Burns said in a release announcing the venture Tuesday. "We are pleased to be joining with TYHM to broaden our collective reach and further enhance our ability to provide equipment and services to the Chinese nuclear market."

China is by far the world leader in new nuclear build, with more than two dozen plants under construction, 15 plants in operation and more planned for the coming decades.

Officials at MidAmerican Energy Co. are studying potential options now that the Iowa Legislature adjourned without taking action on a bill the utility sought to lay the groundwork for a state regulatory structure that would have moved the company toward its planned construction of a nuclear power plant in Iowa.

“We are evaluating future options, and at this time it’s premature to speak in detail about those plans,” said Tina Potthoff, media relations manager for MidAmerican Energy. She said the company likely will hold internal meetings to decide how to proceed.

The company sought legislation creating a regulatory framework for a small-scale nuclear energy project. Opponents said it would allow MidAmerican Energy to charge ratepayers in advance for new nuclear reactor construction, with the utility to able keep the money even if construction was never completed. Sen. Matt McCoy (D-Des Moines) expects another proposal in 2013 that won’t involve ratepayers assuming the same amount of risk.

In March, the Senate Commerce Committee passed a bill empowering the state to require the utility to complete the plant if its financing and construction receive state regulatory approval. While the nuclear funding bill passed in the senate committee, it never garnered enough support to pass the Senate.

MidAmerican has been exploring a new technology using small modular units, which are cheaper than larger reactors but produce less energy. The utility has projected the cost of building the proposed nuclear facility at between $1 billion and $2 billion.

Unplanned reactor trips at St. Lucie and a generator malfunction during last year’s earthquake at North Anna will result in additional inspections at the plants, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced Monday.

Florida Power and Light’s St. Lucie unit 1 reactor in Jensen Beach, Fla., has shut down unexpectedly three times since the third quarter of 2011, with two of those shutdowns classified as complicated trips.

Operators tripped the unit manually in August after an influx of at least 1,000 pounds of jellyfish clogged the coastal plant’s water intake and caused condenser backpressure to rise, according to an NRC event report. The incident also involved a leak in the casing of a feedwater pump, according to the report, and a trip of a second feedwater pump.

The Palm Beach Post reported that reactor trips in October and March were caused by valve problems, and that the March trip is still under investigation.

The reactor’s recent performance crossed a threshold for trips per 7,000 critical hours, according to an NRC release. The agency placed the unit in the “degraded cornerstone” column of its action matrix, which entails a supplemental inspection and additional oversight. The column is the third most serious of five columns in the matrix.

In a separate release Monday, the NRC said it placed Dominion’s North Anna plant in the “regulatory response” column of the matrix, its second lowest category of severity. In August an earthquake centered near the plant in Mineral, Va., caused it to trip automatically. While the reactor shut down and cooled off safely, one of its four emergency diesel generators failed, according to NRC documents. The agency later blamed the failure on inadequate guidance for installing certain gaskets in the generators. The resulting white finding and its new position in the matrix will result in further inspections from the NRC.

Cameco, the world’s largest publicly traded uranium producer, has made a deal to further its resources, offering $136 million for Germany-based Nukem Energy.

In buying Nukem from private equity firm Advent International, Canada-based Cameco will acquire a company with expected sales of between 10 million and 15 million pounds of uranium in 2012. Cameco will also gain access to 4.5 million pounds available under agreements in place through 2013 for downblended highly enriched uranium.

"This acquisition complements Cameco's business by strengthening our position in nuclear fuel markets and improving our access to unconventional and secondary sources of supply," Cameco CEO Tim Gitzel said in a release.

Cameco also will take over Nukem’s debt of $164 million, and the deal promises Advent a share of the company’s future earnings through 2014 under certain conditions. Subject to regulatory approval, the deal is expected to close in the last quarter of this year.

The local assembly in the Japanese town of Ohi that hosts Kansai Electric Power Co's Ohi nuclear plant agreed on Monday it was necessary to restart two offline reactors, its chairman said.

Power shortages are a concern as all 50 of Japan's nuclear power plants have been shut down following routine maintenance checks in the wake of Fukushima, with the country's last operating reactor going offline on May 4th.

With the shortages looming, the Japanese government has been trying to win approval from towns and prefectures that host reactors. The town of Oi is now the first municipality to approve a restart.

"Largely understanding the necessity of nuclear power and taking into consideration residents' opinions as well as the impact on consumers' livelihoods and the economy, we decided to agree to a restart," Kinya Shintani, chairman of Ohi town assembly, said in a statement.

Last month, Japanese Trade Minister Yukio Edano announced the two reactors at Ohi had cleared the government’s technical review on resilience against severe events. Further discussion lies ahead before the reactors can be reconnected to the grid, including the task of gaining support from residents of regions close enough to be at risk from a nuclear accident but too distant to reap economic rewards.

German utility RWE will apply to the authorities in the coming months to decommission two idled nuclear power reactor blocks at the Biblis site, the first step in a lengthy process likely to take many years, the company said on Friday.

"RWE Power (the generation arm) will in the coming months prepare an application for direct break-up of the Biblis power station, which will be submitted to the Hesse state authorities in the second half of the year," it said on its website. "Preliminary assessments have shown that a break-up of the unit is preferable to safe enclosure."

RWE also said it may take several years to get approval for the plan.

RWE's move may also set in motion a trend for six other sites subject to Germany's hasty exit from much of its nuclear capacity last summer, since no concrete decision on the future of the company's plants have been made.

L-3 MAPPS announced today that it will proceed with two projects to update the full scope simulator at Axpo’s Beznau nuclear power plant located in Döttingen, Switzerland. The projects involve NEXIS and AUTANOVE updates being performed on the plant’s two operating units. The simulator updates are expected to enter service in the fall of 2013.

Under the NEXIS project, the plant is replacing its existing WDPF-based plant information system with an advanced Ovation-based system from Westinghouse. For the AUTANOVE project, the existing remote hydro plant emergency power supply is being replaced with two on-site diesel generators for each operating unit. To properly train Beznau operators on the impact and behavior of these significant plant modifications, the updated simulator must be operational well in advance of the actual plant modifications going into service.

“Since the Beznau full scope simulator went into operation in the first quarter of 2007, Axpo has depended on L-3 MAPPS for its nuclear plant simulation needs,” said Michael Chatlani, vice president of marketing & sales for L-3 MAPPS Power Systems and Simulation. “As the plant has evolved, so has the simulator, and we are proud that Axpo has continued to work alongside us over the years.”

“Always ready to devise custom solutions to address our challenges, L-3 MAPPS’ technology, know-how and general approach to business are the right fit for Beznau,” said Roger Lufi, operations support manager at Axpo’s Beznau nuclear power plant. “We look forward to completing these new projects with our simulation partner.”

For NEXIS, L-3 MAPPS will modify the interface to the existing plant information system to allow communication with the Ovation system supplied by Westinghouse. Several trials will be performed before L-3 MAPPS personnel proceed to a Pittsburgh, Pa. facility to set up the initial communication and to support integrated simulator-Ovation testing.

For AUTANOVE, L-3 MAPPS will leverage its Orchid^® Modeling Environment to remodel the electrical emergency power supply, including power distribution. The new diesel generators will be fully simulated with their auxiliary and control systems. The controls will be based on Westinghouse’s Common Q platform. L-3 MAPPS will develop the control logic that will be added to start up the diesel generators and sequentially turn on the necessary equipment. Other related plant changes that will be modeled are the addition of a feeding system to the emergency feedwater system and a seal water pump to the seal injection water supply to the reactor coolant pump, each controlled by AREVA’s Teleperm XS.

Both updates will be integrated on the full scope simulator and subjected to rigorous on-site testing before the updated simulator is turned over to Axpo’s training department.

Headquartered in Baden, the Axpo Group is Switzerland’s leading energy utility, involved in electricity generation and transmission, power distribution, and trading. Axpo has more than 4,000 employees and provides electricity to around three million people in Switzerland. Axpo AG’s fleet of nuclear power stations includes its own facility in Beznau, as well as stakes in co-owned nuclear power stations in Gösgen and Leibstadt, as well as purchase rights to output from French nuclear power stations. The Beznau nuclear power plant consists of two near-identical Westinghouse pressurized water reactor units. Their net output is 365 megawatts each. The Beznau simulator was put into service by L-3 MAPPS on 30 March 2007.

L-3 MAPPS, a division of L-3 Marine & Power Systems, has nearly 30 years of experience in pioneering technological advances in the marine automation field and nearly 40 years of experience in delivering high-fidelity power plant simulation to leading utilities worldwide. In addition, the company has more than four decades of expertise in supplying plant computer systems for Canadian heavy water reactors. L-3 MAPPS also provides targeted controls and simulation solutions to the space sector. To learn more about L-3 MAPPS, please visit the company’s website at www.L-3com.com/MAPPS.

Comprising 25 operating companies, L-3 Marine & Power Systems (L-3 M&PS) is a worldwide leader in maritime automation and control, navigation, communications, dynamic positioning, and power distribution and conditioning for the U.S. Navy, allied foreign navies and commercial customers worldwide. L-3 M&PS also produces full-fidelity simulators for increased operator proficiency, resulting in safe operations for leading utilities and ship operators worldwide. With over 80 locations in 20 countries, L-3 M&PS is a cohesive, global partner with extensive capabilities and a proven track record in delivering the highest level of technology, service and integration. To learn more about L-3 Marine & Power Systems, please visit the company’s website at www.L-3com.com/MPS.

Headquartered in New York City, L-3 employs approximately 61,000 people worldwide and is a prime contractor in C³ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) systems, aircraft modernization and maintenance, and government services. L-3 is also a leading provider of a broad range of electronic systems used on military and commercial platforms. The company reported 2011 sales of $15.2 billion. To learn more about L-3, please visit the company’s website at www.L-3com.com.

Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

Except for historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this news release are forward-looking statements. Statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to events or conditions or that include words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “will,” “could” and similar expressions are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements set forth above involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any such statement, including the risks and uncertainties discussed in the company’s Safe Harbor Compliance Statement for Forward-Looking Statements included in the company’s recent filings, including Forms 10-K and 10-Q, with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and the company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

# # #

Orchid is a trademark of L-3 Communications MAPPS Inc. All other products are trademarks of their respective companies.

New leadership at Tokyo Electric Power Co. and progress in the capital toward a new regulatory regime highlighted the recent news from Japan.

Developments related to the Fukushima Daiichi reactors severely damaged following last year's earthquake and tsunami include:

Outside Directors Selected for Reorganized TEPCO

As the government exercises its controlling stake in TEPCO, the heads of Japan's public television broadcaster and a Mitsubishi subsidiary have been tapped to work as  outside directors at the company. Fumio Sudo is chairman of the board of governors of Japan Broadcasting Co., also known as NHK, and previously served as president of the steelmaker JFE Holdings. Yoshimitsu Kobayashi is president of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Co. While their appointments will not be complete until after a TEPCO shareholder meeting next month, the Asahi Shimbun reported both TEPCO and the government's Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund have supported their nominations. Under a restructuring plan, the government will give $12.3 billion to the struggling utility and acquire a controlling interest in the business. The plan will reorganize TEPCO in a way that gives outside directors like Sudo and Kobayashi more control over management under Japanese law.

Study: Electric Rates Could Double Without Reactors

As it begins to prepare a broader Japanese energy policy this summer, a government panel has found electric rates would rise dramatically if nuclear power is phased out in the next two decades. Prepared by various academics for the Fundamental Issues Subcommittee of the industry ministry's Advisory Committee for Natural Resources and Energy, the studies involved a range of simulations to forecast electricity rates with nuclear plants providing between zero and 35 percent of the country's power in 2030. The Asahi Shimbun reported that projections without nuclear power showed electric rates 42 percent to 104 percent higher than those in 2010 because of nuclear plants' capital recovery costs and the expenses associated with building renewable generation. Even if nuclear power remains 25 to 30 percent of the mix and renewable generation increases, the studies anticipated rate increases of between 30 percent and 62 percent over the same time period.

Politicians Closer to Deal on New Regulatory Bodies

Citing government sources, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported Sunday that three of the major Japanese political parties are close to resolving an impasse on legislation to drastically reshape the regulatory regime for nuclear plants. According to the newspaper, the ruling Democratic Party has agreed to accept a proposal from the New Komeito and Liberal Democratic parties that would allow a bill to pass in the current legislative session. It will include a proposal favored by opposition parties that would create a new agency under the Environment Ministry that would be overseen by a semi-autonomous nuclear regulatory commission. If the legislation moves forward, the comission could be established as early as June 1.

Photo: Recently installed monitoring equipment at the seismic isolation building. Source: TEPCO

India's Atomic Energy Regulatory Board on Thursday gave the Kudankulam nuclear plant project the go-ahead to remove dummy fuel from unit 1. The move by Indian regulators signifies one of the last steps before loading the uranium fuel now on site and beginning commercial operation.

The Times of India quoted a plant official as saying the dummy fuel removal and associated inspections will take seven to 10 days, clearing the way for power generation in another 25 days.

Once online, Kudankulam will be the country's largest nuclear plant, according to the World Nuclear Association, using two 950 megawatt VVER pressurized water reactors, each with nearly twice the power of the country's largest reactor currently in operation. The project initially called for the first unit to come online in 2008, and the second unit has been scheduled to come online 8 months after the first. Both are being built by Russia's Atomstroyexport. They were commissioned and will be operated by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd.

The Virginia Tobacco Commission and Campbell County, Va. Awarded AREVA two grants to aid the continued development and construction of the U.S. Technical Center in Lynchburg, Va.

AREVA has broken ground on a new, state-of-the-art technology center which will expand AREVA’s testing capabilities and allow easier access for U.S.-based utilities. The center will include seismic testing capability, as well as environmental chambers to test product resilience in harsh conditions and various metallurgical and chemical laboratories for materials and component testing.

“AREVA will be at the forefront of analyzing and addressing critical technical and safety-related solutions so that our customers can continue to operate their plants efficiently and safely for the near term and over an extended life,” said Michael Rencheck, CEO, AREVA Inc. “We are very excited to accept the grant to partner in developing the U.S. Technical Center. This project is a demonstration of our commitment to the Lynchburg area.”

This new center will add up to $7 million in procurement and building modifications through 2015 in the Lynchburg area and will lead to the creation of additional technical jobs by 2013. The expansion required for the development of the U.S. Technical Center, headquartered at AREVA’s Mount Athos Road site, began in mid-February. The seismic testing facility will be completed this summer, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony planned for September.

“Campbell County is extremely pleased with AREVA’s decision to move forward with their U.S. Technical Center at their Campbell County, Mt. Athos Facility,” stated Eddie Gunter Jr., Board of Supervisors member representing the Concord election district. “The creation and retention of jobs is great news. We’re happy to assist the project and look forward to a long relationship.”

Construction is behind at Southern Co's Plant Vogtle in Georgia and the company has entered a dispute over who should pay for $400 million in unanticipated costs, utility executives said Wednesday.

Southern initially planned on finishing the construction of its first new reactor in April of 2016 and complete work on the second reactor a year later. However, that timeline has slipped to November 2016 for the first reactor.

"We do not currently believe that the April dates are achievable," David McKinney, a vice president for nuclear construction at Southern, testified during a hearing held by the state's Public Service Commission.

The companies designing and building the power plant - The Shaw Group Inc. and Westinghouse Electric Co. - want Southern Co. subsidiary Georgia Power to pay an additional $400 million to cover increased costs blamed on design changes and delays, according to the utility's financial filings. Southern said its Georgia Power unit “has not agreed with the amount of these proposed adjustments” and would seek dispute resolution or sue its partners in court if they cannot reach a compromise on the cost overruns.

“The Owners and the Consortium have begun negotiations regarding these issues, including the assertion by the Consortium that the Owners are responsible for these costs under the terms of the Vogtle 3 and 4 Agreement,” a statement by the SEC read.

State utility regulators have authorized Georgia Power to spend just over $6.1 billion as its share of the estimated $14 billion project. But there is an increasing risk that Southern Co. will need to increase its budget.

So far, spending on the project remains $28 million under budget, although those estimates from Georgia Power do not account for the potential cost of the disputes with its business partners.

Southern - which has started construction on their two new nuclear reactors after obtaining federal construction permits in February - has been negotiating with the Department of Energy for final approval of $8.33 billion in loan guarantees to finance the project. However, the company plans to move forward with the project with or without the guarantees.

The Executive Board of Energy Northwest voted Thursday to spend $711 million to buy fuel to supply its Columbia nuclear power plant.

While the fuel will not be used until 2021 to 2028, the company believes it is in a unique position to get a below-market price for fuel and potentially stabilize fuel prices to save ratepayers from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of dollars through 2028.

To reduce the risk of the deal, Energy Northwest would sell some of the fuel to the Tennessee Valley Authority.

The fuel to be purchased is processed depleted uranium that will be enriched by the U.S. Enrichment Corp. at the Paducah gaseous diffusion plant owned by the DOE.

For more information about this story, see the original article at The News Tribune

Czech Republic utility CEZ says it is considering joining forces with a strategic partner in a multibillion-dollar project to build two more nuclear reactors at Temelin nuclear power station.

CEZ says more than 10 energy companies, mostly from Europe, are among potential partners to help finance and operate the project. The company expects to have a list of potential companies by autumn, Chief Executive Daniel Benes said Thursday.

Sandvik has announced the opening of a new mill for the advanced manufacture of stainless steel and high nickel alloy tubes for use in nuclear power plant steam generators at its facility in Sandviken, Sweden, according to a Thursday release.

The new mill utilizes advances in equipment design of tube manufacture, annealing, final finishing, inspection and dispatch.

"The energy sector is a key segment for Sandvik and we see a lot of interesting opportunities for nuclear and steam generator tubing," said Jonas Gustavsson, President of Sandvik Materials Technology. "Today, approximately 2.5 years after the investment decision we now have a new, world-class mill. Through this investment we are significantly increasing the capacity and thereby further strengthening our position in this market."

Work on the site began in 2010 and has involved over 150 people and 330 specialist suppliers up to its completion.

Brazil has announced it has shelved plans to build new nuclear power stations in the coming years, citing last year's disaster at Fukushima disaster in Japan as a factor behind the decision.

The previous government - led by former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva - had planned to construct between four and eight new nuclear plants through 2030. However, Marcio Zimmermann, the energy ministry's executive secretary, was quoted as telling a forum Tuesday that there was no need for new nuclear facilities for the next 10 years.

"The last plan, which runs through 2020, does not envisage any (new) nuclear power station because there is no need for it. Demand is met with hydro-electrical power and complementary energy sources such as wind, thermal and natural gas," Zimmermann said on Wednesday.

Brazil operates one nuclear power station, located in Angra dos Reis near Rio de Janeiro, that houses two pressurized water reactors. Currently, a Angra 3 is under construction that expects to be completed in 2015.

Multi-billion-dollar projects bringing new reactors into service at facilities like Georgia’s Plant Vogtle and South Carolina’s V.C. Summer nuclear plant will offer a range of opportunities to contractor companies that serve the industry.

New build also brings a new dimension to the regulatory regime contractors face. And to that end the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has announced a workshop June 28 to help vendors participating in nuclear construction projects. It will take place from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Renaissance Harborplace hotel in Baltimore, Md.

Organized by NRC staff, the industry vendor clearinghouse Nuclear Procurement Issues Committee (NUPIC), the Nuclear Energy Institute, the Electric Power Research Institute and vendor companies, the workshop will address a range of issues contractors face related to the licensing of a new plant. They include vendor oversight, quality assurance rulemaking, international calibration laboratories, counterfeit prevention, safety, software quality assurance and non-reactor vendor inspections. The event will be held in conjunction with a NUPIC vendor meeting.

“Vendors’ quality products and expertise are vital to ensuring new reactors are built to operate safely,” Laura Dudes, director of the NRC’s division of construction inspection in the Office of New Reactors, said in a release. “We want to ensure current and potential vendors understand our requirements and how rigorously we oversee construction sites and the vendors themselves.”

As promised in April, President Barack Obama has nominated Kristine Svinicki for a second term on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission despite opposition from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other Democrats in Congress.

The White House announced the nomination in a brief statement issued Tuesday. Svinicki, whose term ends June 30, was first appointed to the NRC in 2008. She took up the post after working on nuclear issues for the Senate Armed Services Committee under Republican Sens. John Warner and John McCain. She also spent several years as a policy adviser to then Senator Larry Craig, R-Idaho, according to her NRC biography and the White House release.

With a bachelor’s in nuclear engineering from the University of Michigan, Svinicki began her career in 1989 as an energy engineer at the Wisconsin Public Service Commission. Before coming to Capitol Hill, she worked for the Department of Energy in its Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology, its Idaho Operations Office and its Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management. Her statements before Congress regarding the latter position recently drew a public rebuke from Reid, who accused her of lying about her work on the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada. Svinicki denied that allegation. She has also clashed with former Reid staff member and NRC Chairman Gregory B. Jaczko.

Her confirmation in the Senate is uncertain, with Republicans favoring her reappointment. Following the announcement, The Hill newspaper quoted Reid and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., as saying they had not yet made a decision on moving the nomination forward.

Babcock & Wilcox Nuclear Operations Group (B&W NOG) - a subsidiary of the Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W) - has received a $130 million contract for nuclear reactor components to be used on the U.S. Navy's Virginia-class submarines, according to a Wednesday release.

Work will begin immediately at B&W NOG's Lynchburg facility and last for five years, the company said.

"B&W is pleased to receive this new contract award," said Peyton S. Baker, President of B&W NOG. "The work will be executed in our Lynchburg facility and highlights the technologically advanced capabilities B&W utilizes to provide high value-added products in support of U.S. defense programs."

B&W NOG offers a range of nuclear components and services, including the manufacture of nuclear reactor components for U.S. Naval submarines and aircraft carriers, as well as other nuclear and non-nuclear R&D component production.

The organization employs over 2,400 people in the Lynchburg area.

Japan’s government has approved a 1 trillion yen ($12.55 billion) bailout for Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant.

“Without the state funds, [Tepco] cannot provide a stable supply of electricity and pay for compensation and decommissioning costs,” said Japanese industry minister Yukio Edano, who approved the takeover plan, adding that he hopes the company will work to win back public trust.

The move, which was expected, is part of a restructuring plan approved Wednesday. In exchange, TEPCO has announced its new management and pledged to cut more than 3.37 trillion yen ($42 billion) in costs over 10 years through fiscal 2021.

Over the weekend, Japan shut down its last nuclear reactor, leaving the country without nuclear power for the first time over 40 years.

(Updated) In a report issued Monday, federal regulators announced findings from their inspection of shield building cracking discovered at the Davis-Besse nuclear plant during a reactor pressure vessel head replacement in October.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it was satisfied with FirstEnergy’s plan to deal with the cracks, but the review of the root cause and the proposed corrective actions is ongoing.

“Based on an evaluation of (First Energy Nuclear Operating Company’s) extent of condition and technical analysis of the shield building cracking, the NRC staff concluded that FENOC provided reasonable assurance that the shield building was capable of performing its safety functions,” NRC staff wrote in the inspection report.

On Oct. 10, a contractor noticed subsurface cracks in the concrete while performing hydro-cutting to create the hole needed to swap out the RPV head. Following a subsequent investigation, FirstEnergy blamed the cracking on a blizzard in 1978, not long after the plant began operating, and indicated it would add weather-proofing material to the concrete.

The 913 megawatt Babcock & Wilcox pressurized water reactor’s design does not incorporate the unit’s primary containment into the walls of the shield building, which sets it apart from the Crystal River nuclear plant that’s experienced costly delamination of its building concrete that has yet to be resolved. Instead, the Davis-Besse shield building provides environmental protection, biological shielding and protection from external hazards, according to the NRC.

On Tuesday the Department of Energy announced the distribution of $47 million for a range of scholarships and research programs related to nuclear power.

This year’s Nuclear Energy University Programs and Integrated University Program encompass 143 awards at 46 colleges and universities.

“We must invest in the next generation of American scientists and engineers in order to fulfill our commitment to restarting America’s nuclear industry and making sure that America stays competitive in the 21st century,” Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in a release.

The awards includes $36.2 million for 47 projects in the areas of fuel cycle research (awarded $19.9 million), reactor concepts and demonstration ($10.8 million), advanced modeling and simulation ($2.5 million) and transformative research ($3 million). Additionally, DOE awarded $5 million for 70 undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships, as well as $6 million for research reactor improvements.

Looking ahead, the budget proposed by the administration of President Barack Obama would trim the university funding for next year. Should legislators in Congress adopt the administration’s proposals for the 2013 DOE budget, the agency would drop the Integrated University Program, which paid for the scholarships.

In congressional testimony March 30, Nuclear Energy Institute CEO Marvin Fertel urged House appropriators to continue the program: “Given that more than half of America’s green jobs in the electric sector are at nuclear energy facilities, it is vital that Congress provide financial support for students and junior faculty.”

Bespoke robotic technology has been developed in order to safely remove a significant hazard associated with the 60-year-old First Generations Magnox Storage Pond (FGMSP), so meeting the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s (NDA) focus of delivering progress in tackling the nuclear legacy.

The scope of the work involved using a unique Powered Remote Manipulator Arm (PRM) to firstly isolate and remove redundant pipework in a high radiation area, and secondly to clean and seal a contaminated pond  wall. The redundant pipework posed a significant risk and has been isolated with special sealants, before its remote removal. The robotic arm then scabbled the pond wall and applied a specialist coating to seal the concrete. Paul Farran, Head of Projects, FGMSP said: “The operation demanded surgical precision in an industrial context and the completion of this vital piece of work helps us get on with the job of retrieving nuclear wastes from the pond.

“We’ve worked with specialist contractors SA Robotics to develop a robot that could work in a high radiation area, where obviously we couldn’t send our workforce. We’ve also drawn on space age technology by using software originally developed by NASA, to control our robot. In addition new resins and foams had to be developed in conjunction with AMEC to both key and seal the pond wall, and to coat and isolate the pipework under extreme conditions.”

The successful completion of this work will now allow Sellafield Ltd to move forward with emptying of the pond and the eventual decommissioning of the building.

The FGMSP was not built with decommissioning in mind, unlike modern nuclear facilities. Also, the standards of construction were different in the 1950s and would not meet today’s exacting requirements. Moreover, due to the age of the plant and that it has been open to the elements, the building has deteriorated. These factors meant that significant improvements have had to be made to bring the building to a state that it can be safely decommissioned.

Jim French, Nuclear Management Partners’ (NMP) Executive Decommissioning Director said: “We are committed to accelerated decommissioning and addressing the intolerable conditions that exist in some of our aging legacy facilities as soon as possible. NMP has brought their expertise to Sellafield specifically to drive through decommissioning projects that really will make a difference. Completion of this remediation work is a significant achievement towards decommissioning the First Generation Magnox Storage Pond (FGMSP) safely.”

Mark Steele, (NDA) Head of Programme for Sellafield said: “Sellafield faces a complex set of decommissioning challenges in dealing with the legacy facilities on the site. Often innovative approaches and techniques are needed to overcome them and applying the expertise that exists on the site is key to successful delivery. Continuing this approach will help in our drive to accelerate progress on risk and high hazard reduction.”

Significant preparation work had to be carried out before work could start on the job. This included the construction of a full scale mock up of the facility in Whitehaven, to prove the equipment, method and safety of the procedure, along with providing a low risk environment in which to train the operatives. Paul Farran, Head of Projects, FGMSP added: “The full operation was practiced again and again in the test facility for 80,000 operating hours. Through the intense practice, we were able to satisfy ourselves and our regulators that the job could be flawlessly executed and that every eventuality has been considered and prepared for. At all times safety was the over-riding priority and although the job was high risk, it was a job that was long overdue.”

A South Korean expert from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was killed in a car accident in Iran today during a tour to inspect nuclear facilities.

Ok-Seok Seo was traveling with another inspector from the IAEA near the Arak heavy water plant when the car skidded and rolled over, Fars News quoted Iran's Atomic Energy organization as saying.

There were no immediate indications of foul play. However, the crash is likely to undergo intense scrutiny.

"One of the inspectors, from the Republic of Korea, was killed; the other, from Slovenia, was injured. The Agency is in touch with the inspectors' families, and with the Iranian authorities," the IAEA said in a statement.

The IAEA carries out regular inspections of Iran's nuclear sites and often sends inspectors to Iran to visit some of its atomic installations.

The agency has periodically been given access to the Arak compound that houses Iran's IR-40 heavy water reactor. Built to produce power and radiological isotopes for use in medical treatments and industry, Iranian officials say it will be switched on next year.

In September 2011, Iran’s Bushehr Unit 1 became the first nuclear plant to begin commercial operation in the Middle East, marking the end of a decades-long construction project and heightening proliferation fears among the country's adversaries.