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Luminant Generation Company LLC; Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant Units 3 and 4 Combined License Application; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and Conduct Scoping Process Luminant Generation Company LLC (Luminant) has submitted an application for two combined licenses (COLs) to build Units 3 and 4 at its Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant (CPNPP) site, located on approximately 7,950 acres in Somervell and Hood Counties, Texas. CPNPP is located on Squaw Creek Reservoir, approximately 5.2 miles (mi) north of Glen Rose, Texas. Luminant submitted the application for the COL to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) by letter dated September 19, 2008, pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 52. A notice of receipt and availability of the application for the COLs, including the Environmental Report (ER), was published in the Federal Register on November 7, 2008 (73 FR 66276).

AUSTIN - Dallas-based Luminant said Friday it is applying to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build two new reactors at its Comanche Peak nuclear power plant near Glen Rose. It's an early step in a multiyear permitting process. It would take nine to 10 years until the reactors are up and running if they are approved, counting permitting and construction time, said David Campbell, chief executive officer for Luminant.

"Luminant, the power generator proposing a multibillion-dollar expansion of the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant, took issue Thursday with arguments that it failed to give sufficient consideration to renewable energy alternatives and catastrophic radiation leaks that might result from an event such as a terrorist attack. The issues were debated by lawyers for Luminant and plant opponents at a hearing held in Granbury by a three-judge panel of the federal Atomic Safety and Licensing Board. The hearing is part of Luminant's application for a license to expand Comanche Peak from two to four reactors. The plant is near Glen Rose, 45 miles southwest of Fort Worth."

Energy Future Holdings generation business, called Luminant, informed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday it plans to file an application on September 19 for a license to build and operate two new reactors. Luminant is considering building the reactors at its Comanche Peak nuclear plant in Glen Rose.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission today announced the opportunity to participate in a hearing on a Combined License (COL) application for two new nuclear reactors at the Comanche Peak site near Glen Rose, Texas. Luminant Generation submitted the COL application and associated information Sept. 19, 2008, and updated the application in November and December 2008. Luminant seeks approval to build and operate two U.S. Advanced Pressurized Water Reactors (US-APWR) at the site, about four miles north of Glen Rose. The NRC is currently reviewing the US-APWR for possible certification. The Comanche Peak application, minus proprietary or security-related details, is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/col/comanche-peak.html.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday that it has accepted for review Luminant Generation's application to add two reactors at the company's Comanche Peak power plant in Glen Rose. Luminant, part of Dallas-based Energy Future Holdings, filed its application Sept. 19. The company said the NRC's action indicates that the application is complete and technically sufficient to allow the agency to conduct a comprehensive review.

Luminant Generation Company LLC; Notice of Receipt and Availability of Application for a Combined License On September 19, 2008, Luminant Generation Company LLC filed with [[Page 66277]] The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) pursuant to Section 103 of the Atomic Energy Act and Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 52, ``Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants,'' an application for a combined license (COL) for two United States--Advanced Pressurized Water Reactors nuclear power plants at the Comanche Peak site located near Glen Rose, Texas. The reactors are to be identified as Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant, Units 3 and 4.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has made available to the public the combined license (COL) application for two new reactors at the Comanche Peak site near Glen Rose, Texas. The applicant, Luminant Generation, submitted the application and associated information Sept. 19. The application, minus proprietary or security-related details, is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/col/comanche-peak.html. The Luminant application seeks approval to build and operate two U.S. Advanced Pressurized Water Reactors (US-APWR) at the site, about four miles north of Glen Rose. The US-APWR is a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries-designed 1,700 MWe pressurized-water reactor the NRC is currently reviewing for possible certification. More information regarding the review is available on the NRC's Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/design-cert/apwr/dcd.html.

For the second day, North Texas nuclear opponents are presenting arguments before a panel of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board. They are challenging Luminant Generation's request for a license to expand the Comanche Peak nuclear plant, as KERA's Shelley Kofler reports. Luminant wants to add two larger reactors to the two already operating at Comanche Peak, southwest of Fort Worth. Nuclear opponents have raised concerns about public health, cost, and enormous water use. In a courtroom in Granbury, attorney Robert Eye told licensing judges that Luminant's application assumes the federal government will provide a permanent repository for radioactive waste. But Eye reminded that the US Energy Secretary has said the proposed Yucca Mountain site in Nevada is no longer an option. Eye claims storing additional radioactive waste at the plant is dangerous.

* $1 bln in deals signed with PG&E, Ameren Corp, Luminant * Will give Russia 20 percent of U.S. uranium market 2014-2020 * Russia sees nuclear fuel storage in U.S. as next step (Recasts with quotes, details, background) By Simon Shuster MOSCOW, May 26 (Reuters) - Russia signed a landmark deal to supply nuclear fuel directly to U.S. companies on Tuesday, setting itself up to control 20 percent of the U.S. uranium market and extending its global reach in the nuclear sector. At a ceremony in the Russian capital, U.S. electricity firms PG&E, Ameren Corp and Luminant signed deals to get more than $1 billion in uranium supplies from Russia's state nuclear fuel exporter Tenex between 2014 and 2020.

Luminant Generation Company, LLC; Establishment of Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Pursuant to delegation by the Commission dated December 29, 1972, published in the Federal Register, 37 FR 28,710 (1972), and the Commission's regulations, see 10 CFR 2.104, 2.300, 2.303, 2.309, 2.311, 2.318, and 2.321, notice is hereby given that an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (Board) is being established to preside over the following proceeding:

Self-luminous EXIT signs containing the radioactive gas tritium are widely used in a variety of facilities across the United States, such as public and private office buildings, theaters, stores, schools and churches - anywhere the public needs a rapid exit path. Those who possess tritium EXIT signs are general licensees of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or an Agreement State,1 and are subject to certain reporting and handling requirements, including proper disposal of unwanted or unused signs. Tritium EXIT signs pose little or no threat to public health and safety and do not constitute a security risk. However, the NRC requires proper accounting and disposal of all radioactive materials. Proper handling and accounting are important, because a damaged or broken sign could cause mild radioactive contamination of the immediate vicinity, requiring a potentially expensive clean up.

THE SCOTTISH Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) yesterday said that radioactivity on Dalgety Bay foreshore is a significant cause for concern. Following analysis of 39 radioactive particles collected in September, recommendations have been made to create clearer warning signs and cement some areas of the beach. The contamination came from luminous aircraft dials dumped after the war and Ministry of Defence Estates will be held accountable for a solution.

Hundreds of litres of potentially radioactive liquid leaked into a river after an incident involving a nuclear submarine, it emerged today. The Royal Navy, which quarantined the area, admitted that 280 litres of possibly toxic coolant water escaped from a burst hose after being pumped from HMS Trafalgar. The liquid, which cools a nuclear reactor, is likely to have been contaminated by tritium, an unstable form of hydrogen that glows in the dark and is used to create the luminous glow on watch dials.

A nuclear energy renaissance is in full swing in the Lone Star State. Luminant Generation recently filed a federal permit to build two new reactors at its Comanche Peak nuclear plant in Somervell County. That makes six new nuclear reactors pending statewide, which would more than double the state's production of electricity from virtually carbon-free nuclear power.

SCIENTISTS have pinpointed seven new radioactive hotspots on a public beach in Fife, it emerged yesterday. Close to the site of a former Second World War airfield, Dalgety Bay has long been suspected of being contaminated by parts from planes which were dismantled prior to parts of the coastline being reclaimed. Dangerous material such as radium was used to coat the luminous dials of wartime aircraft so that they could be read at night.

GLEN ROSE - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission held a public meeting late Thursday to answer questions on the process for Energy Future Holdings to file for a license to build two more reactors. Although Energy Future's Luminant power generation unit will spend between $50 million and $150 million to prepare the application, the company hasn't decided whether to spend billions of dollars to build the reactors at the existing Comanche Peak plant.

AUSTIN -- With eight power plants on the drawing board, Texas could lead the way in an American renaissance of nuclear power, according to industry leaders and some policymakers. Four power companies -- New Jersey-based NRG Energy, Amarillo Power, Dallas-based Luminant and Chicago-based Exelon -- have proposed building nuclear plants in Texas. That would increase the reactors in the state from four to 12, and more than triple its nuclear output.

Russian specialist nuclear (fuel exporter Techsnab-export - better known by its brand name of Tenex - has, in just over a week, won contracts to directly supply low-enriched uranium to four US nuclear power utilities. The latest contract, signed last week, is with the Exelon Corporation, which is one of the largest electricity producers in the US, with a production capacity of 25 000 MW (of which, 17 000 MW comes from nuclear plants) plus control of another (6 500 MW through long-term contracts. During the last week of May, the Russian company signed a contract with FuelCo, which represents the interests of three US utilities, PG&E, Union Electric and Luminant. All three will use low-enriched uranium supplied by Tenex to fuel their nuclear (reactors. Although the value of the Exelon deal has not been revealed, the FuelCo deal is worth more than $1-billion. All these deals (involve long-term contracts and all will run from 2014 to 2020.

Nuclear, coal, natural gas - they're all just different ways of heating water. But oh, those differences. As Luminant and anti-nuclear activists duke it out during the next few years over Luminant's proposed expansion of its Comanche Peak nuclear plant, the jargon of nuclear power isn't likely to penetrate the public consciousness without help. In the interest of general enlightenment, here's the first of an occasional series we might call Nuclear Power 101. Today's topic: Catching up with nuclear reactor designs.