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Duke Energy won't have to reveal the cost estimate for a proposed nuclear plant any time in the near future, North Carolina regulators ruled Tuesday. The N.C. Utilities Commission agreed with the Charlotte electric utility that the estimated cost of a proposed nuclear plant is a "trade secret" under N.C. law. Duke Energy officials argued in a public hearing that revealing the cost estimates now would give tactical advantage to vendors and contractors during sensitive negotiations.

Duke Energy Corp. spent nearly $55 million last year for planning its proposed Lee Nuclear Station. And it could spend almost twice that much this year before asking S.C. regulators to authorize the project. Duke expects the construction of two, 1,024-megawatt nuclear generators near Gaffney, S.C., to cost about $11 billion. That does not account for inflation between now and the utility's 2018 target date for completion. Nor does it include financing, which could add $3 billion to $4 billion to the total cost.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued annual assessment letters to the nation's 104 operating commercial nuclear power plants. All the plants continue to operate safely. "Our ongoing assessment of nuclear power plant performance is at the heart of the agency's mission of protecting people and the environment," said Eric Leeds, director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. "The 2008 year-end results show that about 83 percent of the plants are performing strongly enough that we're satisfied with our basic level of inspections at those sites." If a nuclear power plant's performance declines, the NRC increases the level of inspection to ensure the plant operator is taking the steps necessary to correct the situation. The additional amount of inspection is commensurate with the level of plant performance. At the close of last year, only one reactor, Unit 3 at Palo Verde (Ariz.), required the NRC's highest level of attention. Three reactor units, Cooper (Neb.) and Units 1 and 2 at Palo Verde (Ariz.), required significant NRC attention. And another 14 reactor units, Units 1 and 2 at Byron (Ill.), Unit 1 at Comanche Peak (Texas), Unit 1 at Farley (Ala.), Unit 1 at Grand Gulf ( Miss.), Unit 2 at Hatch (Ga.), Kewaunee (Wis.), Units 1 and 2 at McGuire (N.C.), Unit 2 at Nine Mile Point (N.Y.), Unit 1 at Oconee (S.C.), Palisades (Mich.), Unit 1 at Prairie Island (Minn.), and Unit 2 at San Onofre (Calif.), required additional attention beyond the basic level.

Duke Energy Carolinas is likely to delay construction of its proposed Lee Nuclear Station for up to three years. Duke's latest long-term plan, filed this week with N.C. regulators, says the startup date for generating power at the Gaffney, S.C., plant could be put off to 2021. The delay is particularly likely if Duke can't find a construction partner for the $11 billion plant. The utility is moving its target date as concerns mount regarding the project's cost. Also, demand for power appears to be growing more slowly than in recent years. Duke's updated plans also call for delays in building the utility's proposed Buck Steam Station and Dan River combined-cycle gas plants. Janice Hager, head of Duke's resource planning, says it appears that demand for electricity - not adjusted for the weather - has been flat the last four years. Duke's new projections call for demand growth to return to an average 1.5% per year in the long term. But the company isn't projecting a spurt in demand once the recession ends.

Valhi, Inc. (NYSE: VHI) announced that the Executive Director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has signed and declared effective a license for the near-surface disposal of Class A, B and C low-level radioactive waste ("LLRW") to Waste Control Specialists LLC ("WCS"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Valhi, following WCS completing its last administrative requirement of acquiring 100% of the mineral rights at its west-Texas facility. "Since the final LLRW license was granted in January of this year, we have worked diligently to complete all of the necessary requirements so the license could be signed and declared effective," said William J. Lindquist, Chief Executive Officer of WCS. "The process is now complete and we are ready to begin constructing the LLRW disposal facility, after recently completing construction of the byproduct material disposal facility. Following the anticipated opening of our LLRW disposal facility in late 2010, WCS will provide the industry with a 'one-stop shop' for its waste needs by having the broadest range of capabilities of any commercial enterprise in the U.S. for the storage, treatment and permanent disposal of hazardous, toxic, low-level and mixed LLRW and radioactive byproduct material. We believe our Texas-based solution will provide WCS with a significant competitive advantage in this multi-billion dollar industry since the only U.S. commercial facility currently authorized to accept low-level and mixed LLRW is limited to disposing of Class A waste, while WCS will be able to permanently dispose of Class A, B and C LLRW."

Congress was in session Friday at Savannah River Site. All four U.S. senators from South Carolina and Georgia were on hand for a tour of the nuclear power facility. "I think we're making history today," said Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. "This is the first time all four senators from South Carolina and Georgia have been on site at the same time." Graham was joined by Jim DeMint, R-S.C., Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga. All four senators left the facility impressed by what they saw, each praising the virtues of SRS. "It's a national treasure," Graham said. "It's so well built it can survive the visit of all of these senators."

Denison Mines Corp., a Canadian uranium producer, agreed to sell a 19.9 percent stake in the company to Korea Electric Power Corp. for C$75.4 million ($62.1 million) and supply the utility with uranium until 2015. Korea Electric will buy about 58 million Denison shares for C$1.30 each, equal to yesterday's closing price, Denison said in a statement. The agreement requires the Toronto-based mining company to sell as much as 690,000 pounds of enriched uranium a year to the state-controlled utility starting in 2010.

Electricity costs would rise 50 percent if Progress Energy is allowed to add two reactors at the Shearon Harris site in Wake County, according to a report by the N.C. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network. In a news conference Tuesday, the Durham advocacy group said that the typical residential bill would balloon from $100 a month to at least $150 a month if Raleigh-based Progress builds the two reactors for which it's seeking federal licenses.

A Durham environmental group says concentrating on conservation and cost-effective renewable energy would let Duke Energy Carolinas avoid costly new plants and soften steep rate increases. The N.C. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network's new study says new-plant costs -- particularly for multi-billion nuclear plants -- will increase N.C. rates at least 50 percent by 2024. Report coauthor John Runkle says the increases are likely to be even higher. Nuclear plant costs have increased significantly in recent years. The report used current estimates, but he thinks the plants will cost much more to complete. Prices, he says, could double if utilities go ahead with current plants.

"MAINS water supplies in east Suffolk could be put under stress if permission is given to build a £6billion Sizewell C nuclear power station, according to critics. Figures revealed to a local watchdog group show that the existing Sizewell B plant uses about 800 cubic metres of mains water a day - estimated to be about 7% of the total demand in the local catchment area. Critics say based on this figure a twin-reactor Sizewell C would demand a further 1,600 cubic metres a day - in one of the driest parts of the country and where householders and businesses have in the past few decades faced restrictions on use."

"Gov. Gary Herbert is scheduled to meet Monday with the U.S. Department of Energy to discuss upcoming shipments of depleted uranium. The governor's office isn't saying much about what Herbert plans to talk about in Washington, D.C. with Inés Triay, the DOE's assistant secretary for environmental management. But the meeting comes just after the DOE's two-month deadline passed for the state to finalize its strategy for beefing up the EnergySolutions landfill in Tooele County for more depleted uranium. "The discussion [Monday] will focus on the status of the first shipment, which has already arrived in Utah but is being held in temporary storage, and the future of any future shipments of depleted uranium to Utah," said Angie Welling, spokeswoman for the Republican governor. During a Dec. 17 phone conversation, Herbert and the DOE agreed that a trainload of depleted uranium from the government cleanup at Savannah River, S.C., would come to Utah but not be buried for two months. "

"Concerns over chemical vapors from an underground tank have stopped work to retrieve radioactive waste from Tank C-104, the only leak-prone tank currently being emptied at Hanford. A Hanford worker has been diagnosed with a medical issue after several workers smelled fumes, and a determination has not been made about whether the medical problem could be linked to the vapors. Late at night Jan. 25, workers who were in a control trailer for the work outside the C Tank Farm fence at Hanford came outside and smelled a strong odor linked to vapors vented from the tanks, said Fred Beranek, director of environment, safety, health and quality at Washington River Protection Solutions. "

"S.C. Electric & Gas Co. has won approval for a revised production schedule for the two nuclear reactors it intends to build in Fairfield County. The utility applied to the S.C. Public Service Commission last year to revise parts of its construction schedule while not adjusting the final target dates for the two reactors to be ready, in April 2016 and January 2019. In its filing, the utility asserted that the schedule changes were necessary as it gets contracts in place for plant construction and the fabrication of components. The filing had been opposed by the Friends of the Earth environmental group. It cited concerns that the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission has raised over the Westinghouse reactor design that SCE&G plans to use. Delays in federal approval of that design would keep SCE&G from keeping its schedule, the group argued, but the Public Service Commission did not agree. SCE&G said that it will press Westinghouse to address the federal agency's concerns and keep its schedule intact. Changes to the project's capital cost schedule that resulted from the revised schedule also were approved by the commission."

Japan's Monju Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR, 280MWe) is scheduled to restart by the end of the 2009 fiscal year (March 31, 2010). If it does so, it will be the first time the plant has operated since it was shut down as a result of a sodium leak and fire fourteen years ago. This article reviews the history and current status of Monju and Japan's FBR program. The sodium accident On December 8, 1995 at 19:47 an alarm went off indicating high sodium temperature at the exit of the intermediate heat exchanger in C-loop of Monju's secondary coolant system. One minute later an alarm sounded indicating a sodium leak. At 19:52 staff confirmed that white fumes were coming from the area near the alarm sensors. The reactor was tripped manually at 21:20. Draining of sodium out of C-loop was started at 22:40 and completed at 0:15 on December 9. In other words, the operators waited for about an hour and a half before stopping the reactor and nearly three hours before taking action to stop the leak. (See NIT 51.)"

Exposing and stopping NRC Chairmen and Commissioners' 31 year-long noncompliance with their vital statutory duty to NRC employees Dear NRC Chairman and Commissioners You (as other agency heads) are non-compliant with one of your most (if not most) vital statutory duties to your employees - to assure they are adequately protected from NRC violations of the bedrock values of the federal civil service - the "merit systems principles." Such violations are termed "prohibited personnel practices (PPP's)" and include the whistleblower reprisal type PPP. (The "merit systems principles" and "prohibited personnel practices" are codified at 5 U.S.C. §2301 and §2302.) You simply cannot reduce your duty to "prevent PPP's," per 5 USC §2302(c), to "issue policy about PPP's" and/or "hold training about PPP's" - to "prevent PPP's" you must assure that NRC employees are, in objective fact, adequately protected from PPP's. If they are not adequately protected from PPP's, you are not complying with your duty to "prevent PPP's."

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is raising safety concerns a proposed new reactor designed by Westinghouse, two of which South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. and Santee Cooper plan to install at their existing plant north of Columbia. A key part of the reactor may not withstand a tornado, earthquake or even high winds, NRC said. The commission staff has directed Westinghouse to make changes in the reactor design so its outer shell, which protects the reactor's containment structure, is strengthened. The staff concluded the steel and concrete structure of the AAP-1000 reactor does not meet safety design requirements. SCE&G spokesman Robert Yanity said Thursday the redesign is not expected to affect the schedule of the South Carolina reactors, which are set to come online by 2016 and 2019, respectively. The project at the V.C. Summer nuclear station near Jenkinsville is projected to cost $10 billion. Utility officials hope to have a combined operating and construction license in hand by 2011.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is raising safety concerns a proposed new reactor designed by Westinghouse, two of which South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. and Santee Cooper plan to install at their existing plant north of Columbia. A key part of the reactor may not withstand a tornado, earthquake or even high winds, NRC said. The commission staff has directed Westinghouse to make changes in the reactor design so its outer shell, which protects the reactor's containment structure, is strengthened. The staff concluded the steel and concrete structure of the AAP-1000 reactor does not meet safety design requirements. SCE&G spokesman Robert Yanity said Thursday the redesign is not expected to affect the schedule of the South Carolina reactors, which are set to come online by 2016 and 2019, respectively. The project at the V.C. Summer nuclear station near Jenkinsville is projected to cost $10 billion. Utility officials hope to have a combined operating and construction license in hand by 2011.

More than a third of the $4.2 billion in federal grants and contracts sent so far to South Carolina to revive the economy has gone to the former Savannah River nuclear weapons facility, according to an analysis of federal data by The Greenville News. The stimulus awards amount to about $954 for each S.C. resident - the nation's third-highest per-capita rate behind only the District of Columbia and Alaska, the paper found. STIMULATED Richland County, home to the state capital, received the largest chunk of stimulus money among South Carolina's counties, according to the analysis. Much of Richland's funding went to state agencies to be used across South Carolina. Aiken was second because of large earmarks to clean up the Savannah River nuclear complex: 1. Richland - $2.2 billion 2. Aiken - $1.6 billion 3. Greenville - $76.3 million

More than a third of the $4.2 billion in federal grants and contracts sent so far to South Carolina to revive the economy has gone to the former Savannah River nuclear weapons facility, according to an analysis of federal data by The Greenville News. The stimulus awards amount to about $954 for each S.C. resident - the nation's third-highest per-capita rate behind only the District of Columbia and Alaska, the paper found. STIMULATED Richland County, home to the state capital, received the largest chunk of stimulus money among South Carolina's counties, according to the analysis. Much of Richland's funding went to state agencies to be used across South Carolina. Aiken was second because of large earmarks to clean up the Savannah River nuclear complex: 1. Richland - $2.2 billion 2. Aiken - $1.6 billion 3. Greenville - $76.3 million

Proposals for the new Hinkley Point C nuclear power station have been put on show in Somerset. A series of public consultations begin on Saturday at the village hall, in Cannington, near Bridgwater. Simon Dunford, the plant's project manager, said the events were about presenting the public with options. "These could be, do we - possibly - build a bypass on one side of a town or where should we site accommodation units?" he said. Mr Dunford also said the plans would address what the "legacy benefits" of the building process would be for the local community. The energy company EDF won the go-ahead to construct the new power station a fortnight ago.

Proposals for the new Hinkley Point C nuclear power station have been put on show in Somerset. A series of public consultations begin on Saturday at the village hall, in Cannington, near Bridgwater. Simon Dunford, the plant's project manager, said the events were about presenting the public with options. "These could be, do we - possibly - build a bypass on one side of a town or where should we site accommodation units?" he said. Mr Dunford also said the plans would address what the "legacy benefits" of the building process would be for the local community. The energy company EDF won the go-ahead to construct the new power station a fortnight ago.

Participating in nuclear power hearing can be a 'learn-as-you-go' process Joseph Wojcicki concedes his last name can twist tongues. "It's Voo-tess-kee," the West Columbia man says with a thick Polish accent. "But you can call me 'Joe the Intervenor.'" A retired Midlands Tech math teacher, Wojcicki took part as a citizen intervenor in the Public Service Commission's almost three-week-long hearing on SCE&G's $9.8 billion plan to add two reactor units to the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station at Jenkinsville. Intervenors, 12/22/08 Intervenors Pamela Greenlaw, bottom left, Meira Warshauer, center, and Joseph Wojcicki, right, listen to attorney Bob Guild, standing left, as he enters an objection to secret building cost amounts during the hearing before the commission. The intervenors sit at the table with lawyers for other groups challenging the nuclear plan. They represent the consumer. - Tim Dominick/tdominick@thestate. /The State Intervenors, 12/22/08 Lay-people known as "intervenors" question witnesses at the Public Service Commission hearing on SCE&G's plan to build two reactors at its plant in Jenkinsville. - Tim Dominick/tdominick@thestate. /The State Intervenors, 12/22/08 About a half-dozen lay-people known as "intervenors" are questioning witnesses at the Public Service Commission hearing on SCE&G's plan to build two reactors at its plant in Jenkinsville. - Tim Dominick/tdominick@thestate. /The State Intervenors, 12/22/08 Intervenors Pamela Greenlaw, bottom left, Meira Warshauer, center, and Joseph Wojcicki, right, listen to attorney Bob Guild, standing left, as he enters an objection to secret building cost amounts during the hearing before the commission. - Tim Dominick/tdominick@thestate. /The State Intervenors, 12/22/08 Intervenor Joseph Wojcicki looks through documents during the hearing before the commission. - Tim Dominick/tdominick@thestate. /The State Intervenors, 12/22/08 Citizen intervenor Meira Warshauer, left, asks a que

A series of mishaps that occurred during a recent refueling outage at Duke Energy's Oconee nuclear plant near Greenville, S.C. exposed workers to dangerous levels of radiation, the Union of Concerned Scientists reports. On April 12, the plant shut down for refueling -- the 24th such outage since the reactor began operating in the early 1970s. But practice clearly did not make perfect, as one mishap after another occurred during the 36-hour shutdown. By the time the outage was over, the company had damaged two reactor coolant pumps, unknowingly exceeded reactor cool-down limits, and triggered a potentially disastrous loss-of-coolant accident.