Archive for the ‘Nukes’ Category

December 9, 2013

Reuters

U.S. power company Entergy Corp said on Monday a 989-megawatt Unit 2 at its Arkansas nuclear power plant is offline after a transformer fire earlier this morning.

Mike Bowling, a spokesman at Entergy, said there were no injuries and there was no harm to the workers, the public or the environment. The fire was on the non-nuclear side of the plant, he added.

Bowling said the incident occurred at about 7:50 a.m. local time and there may have been an explosion in the transformer area as there were reports of people hearing something in the area at that time.

He said it was an auxiliary transformer that provides offsite power from the grid to the reactor.

The fire was contained, Bowling said, noting that firefighters were allowing some of the oil in the area to burn out.

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino and Sabina Zawadzki; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe, G Crosse)

Mon, Nov 11 2013

Nuclear Street News

As Mitsubishi Heavy Industries turns its focus to restarting nuclear plants in Japan, the maker of the APWR and utility Luminant have shelved plans to build new reactors in Texas.

APWR rendering. Source: NRCIn 2008, Luminant applied for a combined license to add two reactors to the Comanche Peak nuclear plant near Fort Worth. According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the project had been issued a final environmental impact statement, and a decision on the license was tentatively scheduled for 2015.

The NRC is also considering a license for the APWR design, but on Friday the Dallas Morning News reported that MHI would "slow the development of their design control document by several years.” Consequently, Luminant will suspend its COL application, although the company is not withdrawing it entirely. A Luminant statement quoted by the Morning News also noted that the utility “understand(s) the current economic reality of low Texas power prices driven in large part by the boom in natural gas."

The 1,620 megawatt APWRs would join two other pressurized water reactors at the site licensed in the early 1990s.

Impact on Comanche Peak, Somervell County remains unclear

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

AMANDA KIMBLE
The Glenrose Reporter

Nov. 1 came and went, and Energy Future Holdings (EFH) did not file bankruptcy. The parent company of Luminant Energy, which operates Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant, carries about $40 billion in debt.

As the Nov. 1 deadline to make a $270 million interest approached, experts across the nation began speculating about the company’s future. Locally, Somervell County Commissioners Court held a special meeting, informing employees EHT could expedite the looming Chapter 11 bankruptcy and file the debt restructuring plan rather than make the payment.

Media outlets across the nation, including Bloomberg News, Reuters and The Wall Street Journal reported hours before the deadline the Dallas-based electricity giant would make the scheduled payment.

"As I understand it, discussions with secured creditors have failed," County Judge Mike Ford explained, adding the failure reset debt negotiations. "They are not declaring bankruptcy at this point."

The next payment is due by late February or early March 2014.

While county officials and stock market analysts agree bankruptcy is inevitable, those at home in Somervell are saying while the filing could have a local impact, there is no fear the county’s No. 1 source of tax revenue will go off the grid.

"Closure of Comanche Peak is not what we are talking about," County Auditor Brian Watts said.

Ford agreed.

"The public needs to understand, no matter what happens, the power plant will not shut down," he said. "It is a part of the power grid."
But Watts said there could be an impact to the county.

"There are real fears about when the property tax payment will be made," he said.

And there are a lot of zeros attached to those fears. This year, Luminant’s tax payment is scheduled to bring about $8.8 million to county coffers. The current county budget adds up to more than $12 million, and there is $6 million in reserves.

During negotiations over Comanche Peak’s pending tax payment, the facility was devalued by more than $300 million this year. And officials say there is a real possibility the value will continue to decrease, causing the county to tighten its belt even more. It has also been said if the power plant is sold, the value would likely be less than what is currently on the books.

But Watts said as the county waits to see if the current year’s tax payment will be made, officials realize the ongoing negotiation process is not unprecedented.
"EFH is following what was started by General Motors," he said, referring to pre-negotiated bankruptcy filing.

Watts said the process will allow EHT to "shed bad assets and go forward with good decisions."

"Then they will be able to emerge out of bankruptcy and proceed," Watts said. "It may take awhile, but the secured creditors will get what’s due to them."
EHT was formed from one of the largest leverage buyouts in history – the $45 billion buyout of TXU Corp. in 2007. Watts said investors gambled on the fact that electricity rates – driven by natural gas prices – would remain high.

"They assumed gas prices would remain stable and possibly increase," Watts said, adding when fracking unveiled a wealth of natural gas across the nation, prices plummeted. While it was initially assumed to be a good deal in 2007, it became a bad business move, impacting big power players like Warren Buffet and Berkshire Hawthaway.
But at the end of the day, county officials have only one concern.

"I don’t care about Buffett and Wall Street," Watts said. "I care about Somevell County."

Nov. 08, 2013

BY JIM FUQUAY jfuquay(at)star-telegram.com
Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Dallas-based Luminant Generation has told federal regulators that it will suspend its quest for a license to expand its Comanche Peak nuclear plant in Glen Rose, southwest of Fort Worth.

Luminant, in a letter to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, cited a recent decision by its reactor partner, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, to focus its efforts on restoring nuclear power in Japan, where reactors were idled after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami and Fukushima accident. That will slow Mitsubishi’s work to gain U.S. certification of the new reactor design that was to be used at Comanche Peak.

"As a result, Luminant is suspending work" on adding two new reactors to Comanche Peak "because of its reliance on the design certification," Luminant said in a prepared statement.

The plant currently has two reactors, and Luminant in 2006 announced plans to add two more. After gaining several steps toward obtaining a license for the plant from the NRC, work on the Comanche Peak project stalled as Luminant’s corporate parent, Energy Future Holdings, flirted with bankruptcy and as wholesale power prices in Texas remained low.

"Both MHI and Luminant understand the current economic reality of low Texas power prices driven in large part by the boom in natural gas," Luminant spokesman Brad Watson saud in a prepared release. "Luminant will continue to support nuclear power as part of the solution to Texas electric reliability and will re-evaluate this decision as conditions change," Watson said.

Two Texas opponents of the Comanche Peak expansion said Friday that Luminant’s suspension "shows that the so-called nuclear renaissance has fizzled."

Karen Hadden, executive director of the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development (SEED) Coalition, said the delay "clears the way for safer, cleaner and more affordable renewable energy in Texas."

Tom "Smitty" Smith, director of Public Citizen’s Texas office, said, "It was long believed EFH was keeping these licenses alive because they would be valuable assets in bankruptcy. This stunning decision shows how little bankers on Wall Street value nuclear power."

The letter to the NRC, dated Thursday, said that "while Luminant preferred for MHI to continue" to pursue certification of its reactor, "that alternative does not appear viable given MHI’s other priorities."

The letter goes on to say that Luminant "concluded that it does not make sense to continue to expend Luminant or NRC resources" on the work toward a new license.

Jim Fuquay, 817-390-7552 Twitter: @jimfuquay

Nov. 8, 2013

Contact:
Karen Hadden, SEED Coalition, 512-797-8481

AUSTIN, TX Luminant will end work on their license for two new nuclear reactors at Comanche Peak according to a Reuters report, 11/08/13.

Luminant’s actions show once again that the so-called nuclear renaissance is fizzling out. New nuclear reactors would not produce energy too cheap to meter, but energy that is too costly to sell," said Karen Hadden, executive director of the Sustainable Energy & Economic Development (SEED) Coalition and the leading opponent of the nuclear reactors in Texas. "This clears the way for safer, cleaner and more affordable renewable energy in Texas."

SEED Coalition was the lead intervenor opposing the Comanche Peak reactors, with Robert Eye as counsel. True Cost of Nukes formed in Ft. Worth to oppose the reactors and joined as intervenors, along with Public Citizen.

"The decision to quit Comanche Peak 3 & 4 is a victory for the public’s health, the environment and the economy. Had these reactors been built they would have created a long-term drag on the economy and caused serious public health and environmental problems, and would have wasted vast quantities of precious water," said Kansas-based attorney Robert V. Eye.

It was long believed EFH was keeping these licenses alive because they would be valuable assets in bankruptcy. This stunning decision shows how little bankers on Wall Street value nuclear power " said Tom "Smitty" Smith director of Public Citizen’s Texas office.

Five years ago, eight reactors were announced for Texas, but now only South Texas is still seeking a license from the NRC. SEED Coalition is opposing these reactors as well, and a hearing will be held in Houston on January 6th addressing the foreign ownership and control of the proposed reactors, since Toshiba, a Japanese company, would own the majority interest of two reactors on US soil.

The NRC is in agreement with SEED Coalition on the foreign ownership issue.

Luminant’s decision comes at a time when owners have announced plans to close five existing nuclear reactors, and six more may soon shut down according to Forbes’ report on November 7, 2013.