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The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission renewed the operating license for of Entergy Corp's (ETR.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) 852-megawatt FitzPatrick nuclear station in New York for an additional 20 years, the NRC said Tuesday in a release. The FitzPatrick plant began commercial operation in 1975. Its license was set to expire in 2014. The renewal extends the license to 2034.

Entergy Nuclear Fitzpatrick, LLC, and Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.; The James A. Fitzpatrick Nuclear Power Plant; Notice of Issuance of Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-59 for an Additional 20- Year Period Record of Decision

A sample taken from the west storm drain at Entergy's James A. Fitzpatrick nuclear power plant has tested positive for tritium, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Station management was notified Dec. 23 that a sample taken from the west storm drain tested positive for tritium. The sample results were confirmed at a level of 984 picocuries per liter of tritium. The sensitivity of the analysis is 800 picocuries per liter of tritium. The increase level in tritium, however, poses no health risk, officials state.

A sample taken from the west storm drain at Entergy's James A. Fitzpatrick nuclear power plant has tested positive for tritium, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Station management was notified Dec. 23 that a sample taken from the west storm drain tested positive for tritium. The sample results were confirmed at a level of 984 picocuries per liter of tritium. The sensitivity of the analysis is 800 picocuries per liter of tritium. The increase level in tritium, however, poses no health risk, officials state.

New York utility regulators likely will not decide on power provider Entergy Corp.'s plan to spin off its wholesale nuclear power generators into a separate company until 2010. Advertisement New Orleans-based Entergy had hoped for a decision in November on whether it may place six reactors under a separate publicly traded company Enexus Energy Corp. But two administrative law judges for the state Public Service Commission have ruled that a determination still is needed on whether the new company will have the financial capability to run three of the units in New York: two at Indian Point in Buchanan and one at James A. Fitzpatrick in Oswego County. PSC staff has concerns that long-term unsecured bonds issued for the spinoff might result in a low Enexus bond rating, thus limiting the new company's financial capacity. The judges have proposed a schedule under which environmental issues dealing with the spinoff would be heard by the PSC in December, followed by a ruling in January. Entergy spokesman Michael Burns said if the deal is approved in January, the spinoff could occur in April.

New York utility regulators likely will not decide on power provider Entergy Corp.'s plan to spin off its wholesale nuclear power generators into a separate company until 2010. Advertisement New Orleans-based Entergy had hoped for a decision in November on whether it may place six reactors under a separate publicly traded company Enexus Energy Corp. But two administrative law judges for the state Public Service Commission have ruled that a determination still is needed on whether the new company will have the financial capability to run three of the units in New York: two at Indian Point in Buchanan and one at James A. Fitzpatrick in Oswego County. PSC staff has concerns that long-term unsecured bonds issued for the spinoff might result in a low Enexus bond rating, thus limiting the new company's financial capacity. The judges have proposed a schedule under which environmental issues dealing with the spinoff would be heard by the PSC in December, followed by a ruling in January. Entergy spokesman Michael Burns said if the deal is approved in January, the spinoff could occur in April.

Entergy was dealt another setback in its efforts to form a new holding company for six of its nuclear reactors after a pair of New York state administrative law judges told the state's Public Service Commission it shouldn't issue its final decision until Feb. 11. The judges wrote that the PSC needs time to determine whether Enexus' forecasted financial position is "at least as good as Entergy's," considering that Enexus is currently a shell corporation with no financial history that can be examined, as reported in SNL Energy Finance Daily on Dec. 15. That's especially important, wrote the judges, because Enexus would be an "unaffiliated" owner of nuclear generating facilities, and there is "no other company in the world" like it, reported SNL. Entergy wants to spin off Vermont Yankee in Vernon, Indian Point and FitzPatrick in New York, Palisades in Michigan and Plymouth in Massachusetts into an independent company named Enexus. The plants are considered merchant plants because they sell electricity directly to the power market with price controls set by the states they are located in. When the transaction was first proposed, Entergy said that Enexus would have $4.5 billion in debt. That didn't sit well with the PSC, so Entergy came back with the lower figure of $3.5 billion and assured the PSC that Enexus would have liquidity of $350 million and an unrestricted cash balance of $750 million.

Entergy was dealt another setback in its efforts to form a new holding company for six of its nuclear reactors after a pair of New York state administrative law judges told the state's Public Service Commission it shouldn't issue its final decision until Feb. 11. The judges wrote that the PSC needs time to determine whether Enexus' forecasted financial position is "at least as good as Entergy's," considering that Enexus is currently a shell corporation with no financial history that can be examined, as reported in SNL Energy Finance Daily on Dec. 15. That's especially important, wrote the judges, because Enexus would be an "unaffiliated" owner of nuclear generating facilities, and there is "no other company in the world" like it, reported SNL. Entergy wants to spin off Vermont Yankee in Vernon, Indian Point and FitzPatrick in New York, Palisades in Michigan and Plymouth in Massachusetts into an independent company named Enexus. The plants are considered merchant plants because they sell electricity directly to the power market with price controls set by the states they are located in. When the transaction was first proposed, Entergy said that Enexus would have $4.5 billion in debt. That didn't sit well with the PSC, so Entergy came back with the lower figure of $3.5 billion and assured the PSC that Enexus would have liquidity of $350 million and an unrestricted cash balance of $750 million.

"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission set ground rules Wednesday for appeals of this week's ruling that sidetracked plans to scrap a Yucca Mountain nuclear waste license. The agency issued a one-page order setting a July 9 date for appeals and arguments on why the decision issued by an agency legal panel should not be overturned. Follow-up briefs are due July 16. Attorneys and officials who follow the Yucca Mountain case interpreted it as a sign that the commission wants to address the issue sooner rather than later. It was widely expected that the leaders of the regulatory agency would have the final word after the initial ruling. Based on the schedule for legal briefs and the amount of time taken for the commission to resolve a matter last year in the Yucca case, it is possible that a final decision could come around mid-August, according to Charles Fitzpatrick, an attorney representing Nevada."

Billions of pounds is lost to clean energy sources through investment in nuclear power, First Minister Alex Salmond has said. The Scottish Government announced plans to create 16,000 green energy jobs by 2020 earlier this week. SNP backbencher Joe Fitzpatrick had asked what impact the UK government's "obsession" with nuclear power would have on the renewables industry, during First Minister's Questions.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has approved the transfer of operating licenses for the FitzPatrick, Indian Point Units 2 and 3, Palisades, Pilgrim and Vermont Yankee nuclear power plants from owner Entergy Corp. to new owner Enexus Energy Corporation. The transfer also covers the licenses for the permanently shut down Indian Point Unit 1 and the independent spent fuel storage installation at Big Rock Point. The staff's approval of the transfer is effective July 28.

Despite Gov. Jim Gibbons' objections, the Board of Examiners voted Tuesday to give a Washington law firm another $10 million to continue the legal fight against a high-level nuclear waste repository in Yucca Mountain. The governor pointed out that Egan Fitzpatrick & Malsch already had received $27 million to fight Yucca Mountain, which, according to news accounts, is dead. "Why should we give them $10 million for a dead project?" Gibbons asked. But the other board members, Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and Secretary of State Ross Miller, disagreed. They argued that the legal fight must continue until the U.S. Department of Energy drops its effort to secure Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing for Yucca Mountain.

Entergy Corp. has filed a proposal with utility regulators in New York state in a push to get approval of its long-running plan to spin off some of its nuclear power plants into a separate company. Under a plan announced in late 2007, Entergy would spin off six nuclear reactors involved in the wholesale power business into a separate publicly traded company called Enexus Energy Corp. Enexus would control five nuclear operations: Pilgrim Nuclear Station near Plymouth, Mass.; the James A. Fitzpatrick station in Oswego County, N.Y.; two units at the Indian Point Energy Center in Westchester County, N.Y.; Vermont Yankee in Vernon, Vt.; and Palisades Power Plant in Covert, Mich.

"The state of Nevada filed a motion Monday with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, asking it to approve the application of the Department of Energy to pull out of Yucca Mountain. The regulatory commission will hold hearings in Las Vegas on June 3-4 on the application to withdraw. The petition, signed by Texas attorney Charles Fitzpatrick, says the regulatory commission "cannot second-guess an applicant's decision to withdraw a license application.""

State fees on nuclear power plant operators could nearly double next year under the governor's proposed budget. Annual fees would swell from $550,000 to $1 million per reactor, according to budget division spokesman Matt Anderson. The money collected from New York's six reactors would be split - half funneling to the counties and local municipalities located around the reactors and the other half staying with the state, Anderson said.

A cooling-water leak at Indian Point in February has prompted two congressmen to question the adequacy of pipe inspections at the nation's 104 nuclear plants and to call for revamping leak-detection programs. "We need to make sure these critical safety systems are inspected before it's too late," said Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., who leads the House Energy and Environment Subcommittee. Advertisement Markey and John Hall, D-Dover Plains, wrote a letter Thursday to Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Dale Klein, citing the Feb. 16 leak and questioning whether the leak "may demonstrate a systemic failure" of Indian Point and the NRC to guarantee the public's safety. Plant workers discovered the 18-gallon-a-minute leak of radioactive water from the non-nuclear side of Indian Point 2 after it pooled near a manhole cover.