Mitsubishi to produce nuclear fuel in US with AREVA

http://www.nuclearpowerdaily.com/reports/Mitsubishi_to_produce_nuclear_fuel_in_US_with_AREVA_999.html Tokyo (AFP) Dec 14, 2010 Japan's Mitsubishi Nuclear Fuel Co. said Tuesday it had established a 50-50 venture in the United States with French industrial group AREVA to produce nuclear fuel for pressurised water reactors. The new company, named US Nuclear Fuel and located in AREVA's plant in Richland, Washington state, aims to start production in the second half of this decade, Mitsubishi Nuclear Fuel said in a press release.
Seventy percent of Mitsubishi Nuclear Fuel is owned by the Mitsubishi group and 30 percent by AREVA.
US Nuclear Fuel will produce fuel for advanced pressurised water reactors to be supplied by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to nuclear power plants in the United States, the statement said.

EDF seeks U.S. partner French-owned Unistar says its not under foreign control

 Though they are searching for a U.S. partner to help build a third reactor at the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Lusby, executives of foreign-owned Unistar Nuclear Energy made their case Wednesday that they do not need one in order to comply with federal law, which prohibits foreign ownership or control of U.S. nuclear facilities. More at:
http://www.somdnews.com/stories/12102010/rectop132428_32375.shtml

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Mini nuclear reactors Thinking small Nuclear power: Combining several small reactors based on simple, proven designs could be a better approach than building big ones

Dec 9th 2010 | from PRINT EDITION

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WHEN the two big nuclear reactors under construction at Flamanville in France and Olkiluoto in Finland come on stream, each will boast enough electricity-generating capacity to light up a city of 1.5m. But despite the best efforts of EDF and Areva, which are building the reactors, both are behind schedule and, at over $5 billion apiece, well over budget. With results like these, it is little wonder that the vaunted “nuclear renaissance” has failed to materialise. In fact, the number of operating reactors is in decline, spurring the nuclear-power industry to look for new approaches. Rather than relying on huge, traditional reactors costing billions, it is turning to small, inexpensive ones, many of which are based on proven designs from nuclear submarines or warships.
A global race is under way to develop small-reactor designs, says Paul Genoa of the Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry body in Washington, DC. He estimates that more than 20 countries have expressed serious interest in buying mini-reactors.
At least eight different approaches are being developed, mainly in America and Asia, by an army of 3,000 nuclear engineers, according to Ron Moleschi of SNC-Lavalin Nuclear, an engineering firm based in Montreal. Regulatory and licensing procedures are lengthy, so little will be built until around 2017, he says. But after that the industry is expected to take off. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) estimates that by 2030 at least 40 (and possibly more than 90) small reactors will be in operation. It reckons that more than half of the countries that will build nuclear plants in coming years will plump for these smaller, simpler designs. More at:

http://www.economist.com/node/17647651?story_id=17647651&fsrc=rss

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Keeping up with China: The Economic Advantage of Molten Salt Nuclear Technology

Last Friday, Brian Wang called attention to a Boomberg's article on Chinese nuclear cost. The Bloomberg's story reported that the French designed EPR would cost 40% less to build in China that in Europe:

Areva SA said the EPR nuclear reactor costs 3 billion euros ($4 billion) to build in China, 40 percent less than the price tag Electricite de France SA has put on building one in Normandy.

Nuclear Townhall, on the 26th, called attention to the competitiveness of both the Chinese and the Russian Nuclear Industries. In addition to Russia and China, Nuclear Green has repeatedly called attention to the cost competitiveness of South Korea, and Indian nuclear technologies. The Indians especially are following a will charted path to an innovative low cost nuclear future.

American and European nuclear development can either proceed by following the cost lowering paths being pioneered in Asia, or begin to develop low cost innovative nuclear plans. Since low labor costs, represent the most significant Chinese and Indian cost advantage, it is unlikely that European and American reactor manufacturers will be able to compete with the Asians on labor costs. Labor costs for conventional reactors can be lowered by factory construction of reactor componant moduels, but the Chinese are clearly ahead of the West in that game. Yet the weakness of the Chinese system is the relatively large amount of field labor that the manufacture of large reactors requires.

The Chines system is to introduce labor saving devices where ever and when ever possible, but clearly shifting labor from the field to a factory still offers cost advantages. The more labor which can be performed in the factory, the more labor cost savings are possible. Other savings advantages are possible by simplifying reactor design, and lowering materials input. Building a reactor with less materials and fewer parts lowers nuclear costs directly and indirectly. Decreasing core size per unit of power output also can contribute a cost advantage. Direct saving relate to the cost of parts and matetials, but fewer parts and less material also means less labor is required to put things together, since there is less to put together. In addition a small reactor core structure, would, all other things being equal, require a smaller housing. Larger cores mean more structural housing expenses. More at:

http://theenergycollective.com/charlesbarton/47933/keeping-china-economic-advantage-molten-salt-nuclear-technology

China Builds Nuclear Reactor for 40% Less Than Cost in France, Areva Says

http://nextbigfuture.com/2010/11/china-builds-nuclear-reactor-for-40.html

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Areva SA said the EPR (1700MWe) nuclear reactor costs 3 billion euros ($4 billion) to build in China, 40 percent less than the price tag Electricite de France SA has put on building one in Normandy.

Chinese nuclear builders’ grasp of the technology is “very worrying” for European companies, Areva Chief Executive Officer Anne Lauvergeon told a hearing at the French Senate today in Paris. She also said Chinese companies are more efficient.

I translate "very worrying" by the CEO of the French nuclear company as "Areva will be toast when China starts exporting". China 40% price advantage is for Areva most advance 1700 MWe version. China has even more price advantage for the 1000MWe version of the 900MWe french reactor.

Talks on developing two more of the reactors in China in addition to two already under construction are “near completion,” Lauvergeon said. Areva is also in the final stages of negotiating the sale of two EPRs in India, plus a nuclear fuel contract, she said.

Nuclear Townhall talks about China nuclear advantage and Russian plans.

China and Russia have agreed to drop the U.S. dollar in their bi-lateral trade, and China has revealed ambitious plans to start exporting reactors by 2013 and develop an integral fast breeder program that will complete its nuclear fuel cycle.

All this has extraordinarily implications for America’s economic future. Approximately 40 percent of the dollar’s value comes from its use as the world’s international currency. Yet inflation and U.S. debt have eroded that value and China and Russia are catching on. If the world follows their lead in dropping the dollar, every American will lose 40 percent of his or her net worth overnight.

Chinese technicians have already reversed-engineered Areva 900-MW reactors built at Daya Bay into the CPR-1000 and have 16 under construction, the first scheduled to open next September. Zhang said that once certain intellectual property issues are cleared up with Areva, Guangdong would begin exporting, probably by 2013. Chinese engineers are already doing the same thing with the Westinghouse AP1000 as well.

State-run EDF has a 30 percent stake in Taishan Nuclear Power Joint Venture Co. to develop and operate two 1,700- megawatt EPRs with China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group. Areva, also run by the government, is supplying components.

Construction of Taishan 1 began in November 2009 while Taishan 2 started in April. The reactors are expected to start at the end of 2013 and 2014, according to EDF.

The EPR being developed in Finland will take 86 months to complete due to the country’s “very demanding regulator and a complicated” client, Lauvergeon said. The Flamanville reactor in Normandy will take 71 months while Taishan 1 and 2 are targeting 46 months, she said.

Taishan 1 is on schedule and Taishan 2 is ahead, according to Lauvergeon. Progress at Taishan is being kept six months behind Flamanville deliberately in order to benefits from experience

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• China Builds Nuclear Reactor for 40% Less Than Cost in France, Areva Says (nextbigfuture.com)
• Westinghouse Expects Additional AP1000 Reactor Orders From China (businessweek.com)
• Westinghouse Expects AP1000 Reactor Orders From China (businessweek.com)
• China could start exporting nuclear reactors in 2013 (nextbigfuture.com)
• French feud hits Britain's nuclear reactor plans (newstatesman.com)
• Airbus, Areva, Total Gain in $22.7 Billion China Contract Haul (businessweek.com)
• China, France Seal Airbus, Areva Deals in $22.7 Billion Visit - BusinessWeek (news.google.com)
• UPDATE 1-Areva to sign China nuclear deals - report (reuters.com)

EDF Reactor Design Unlikely To Succeed

EDF Reactor Design Unlikely To Succeed

The Calvert Cliffs-3 nuclear facility.

by Staff Writers Washington DC (SPX) Nov 15, 2010 Even if it is propped up with extensive government subsidies or full cost-recovery from ratepayers, the "Evolutionary Power Reactor" (EPR) - which the French government-controlled utility, Electricite de France (EDF) plans to deliver for the troubled Calvert Cliffs-3 project and other sites in the United States - is "in crisis" to such a severe extent that it is likely to be an economic failure, according to a new report released by University of Greenwich Professor of Energy Studies Stephen Thomas. The Thomas report findings have special resonance in the U.S. given EDF's attempt to salvage the Calvert Cliffs-3 nuclear reactor project, which is considered a leading candidate for U.S. loan guarantees backed by American taxpayers.
In addition to Calvert Cliffs-3 in Maryland, the EPR was selected as the reactor design in the U.S. for Bell Bend in Pennsylvania, Nine Mile Point in New York and Callaway in Missouri (latter two applications currently suspended).
Commenting on the new report, Professor Thomas said: "From a business point of view, the right course for EDF and Areva seems clear. They must cut their losses and abandon the EPR now. In the short-term this will require some painful write-offs, for example, of investments

in the UK and the USA, but in the long-term, the losses will be much greater if they continue to try to make the EPR work.
"Areva's main business is its reactor servicing and fuel activities and these would be little affected by the abandonment of the EPR. EDF already has too much nuclear generating capacity in France, so not ordering more reactors will save it from unnecessary capital expenditure at a time when it acknowledges its debts are too high."
As for recent moves by EDF in the U.S. market, the Thomas report notes: "While the political wrangling about how much Congress will be prepared to allow the US DOE to offer in loan guarantees, the deteriorating prospective economics for new nuclear reactors and the economic risk they pose to their owners may mean that relatively few loan guarantees are granted.
"The projects most likely to go ahead are those with the 'belt and braces' of Federal loan guarantees and a state regulatory body that commits to allowing the utility to recover its costs from consumers. Calvert Cliffs and Bell Bend would be exposed to the PJM electricity market and therefore could expect no support from the state regulator. If the Calvert Cliffs project does collapse and an existing project, such as Bell Bend cannot be brought in to replace it, it is hard to see how the EPR could survive in the USA."
The Thomas report draws the following major conclusions:
+ Construction has "gone dramatically wrong" at both of the sites in Europe where the EPR is currently being built. As Thomas notes: "The two sites in Europe where EPR is under construction, Olkiluoto and Flamanville, have gone dramatically wrong from the start of construction. It might have been argued that the problems at Olkiluoto were due to the lack of experience of the utility and the inexperience of Areva NP in carrying out the architect engineering. However, the fact that EDF, the most experienced nuclear utility in the world seems to be doing no better at Flamanville suggests the main problems are more related to the build-ability of the design itself than to specific issues at Olkiluoto."
+ The price at which the EPR is being offered is so high that all contests in which the EPR has been bid have either been abandoned (South Africa and Canada) or the contract has gone to a much lower bid from a competitor (UAE). In the report, Thomas explains: "As early as 1995 and again in 1997, there were concerns about the cost of the EPR then expected to be US$2000/kW but when other vendors began to claim they could build plants for US$1000/kW, [Areva] seems to have felt obliged to follow suit. While it did not claim US$1000/kW was possible, it did claim reactors could be built for less than US$1500/kW in 1998 and 2001, less than a quarter of the prices it is now offering a decade later. At US$6000/kW or more, it seems unlikely that EPR will be affordable except where huge public subsidies are offered and/or there is a strong likelihood of full cost recovery from consumers, no matter what the cost is."
+ Potential markets such as the USA, UK and Italy all look problematic. Reactor orders, if placed at all, will be much later than expected. The Thomas report explains: "As the reality of these high costs hits home, it is likely that even markets in which government support for new nuclear orders has been strongest, such as the USA and UK, will find it difficult to support the costs."
+ The process of obtaining safety approval in France, UK and the USA is incomplete and, even if successful, the features needed to achieve regulatory approval may add significantly to costs. The Thomas report points out: "The intuitively plausible notion that a new generation of nuclear reactors, starting without a blank sheet of paper could easily come up with a more rational and cheaper, yet safer design of reactor has been shown to be an illusion by the lengthy and still incomplete process of gaining safety approval. The Finnish and French authorities' decision to allow construction to start before full generic approval had been given looks particularly ill-judged."
+ Professor Thomas said: "From a political point of view, France has invested so much political and financial capital in being the world leader in nuclear technology, such a decision to abandon the design will be politically too painful until it becomes unavoidable. However, for the governments of countries like the USA and the UK, which have invested little political capital in the French nuclear dream, the sensible course is clear: stop all investment of public money in the doomed EPR technology."
Professor Thomas is the author of "Areva and EDF: Business Prospects and Risks in Nuclear Energy" (March 2009) and the co-author of "The Financial Crisis and Nuclear Power" (February 2009). He has been a researcher in energy policy for more than 25 years. Professor Thomas writes particularly on economics and policy towards nuclear power, liberalization and privatization of the electricity and gas industries and trade policy on network energy industries. He is a member of the editorial boards of: Energy Policy; Utility Policy; Energy and Environment; and International Journal of Regulation and Governance.http://www.nuclearpowerdaily.com/reports/EDF_Reactor_Design_Unlikely_To_Succeed_999.html

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Constellation Energy closes Unistar deal with EDF Baltimore company no longer in new nuclear business

A deal to transfer Constellation Energy Group's stake in a nuclear development company to its French partner, EDF Group, closed Wednesday, according to documents filed Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Last month, Constellation agreed to sell its 50 percent stake in Unistar Nuclear Energy to EDF for $140 million, giving EDF sole ownership of the joint venture and its plans to develop a third unit at Calvert Cliffs in Southern Maryland.

The deal called for EDF to transfer 3.5 million shares it owns, valued around $110 million, to Constellation and give up its seat on the Constellation board. EDF designee Samuel Minzberg has resigned.  More at:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-constellation-edf-deal-closes-20101104,0,5438442.story

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EDF wants to revive loan guarantee process French utility focusing on next steps, including talking with DOE about loan guarantee process

EDF Group indicated Wednesday that the French energy company hopes to renew efforts to secure a federal loan guarantee to help finance the construction of a proposed third nuclear reactor at Calvert Cliffs in Southern Maryland.
This latest development comes after EDF and Baltimore's Constellation Energy Group agreed to a $250 million cash and stock settlement that gives EDF full ownership of their Unistar nuclear development company, which includes the Calvert Cliffs project.
The deal, reached late Tuesday, ends their joint venture and helps mend a relationship that had been strained since Constellation abandoned negotiations this month with Obama administration officials over the federal loan guarantee for the $9.6 billion project.
"The loan guarantee process is an essential step for anyone who wants to build new nuclear in the U.S. market," an EDF representative said. "Now that EDF is the sole owner of Unistar, EDF will be focused on next steps and will, of course, be talking with the [Department of Energy] about the process moving forward."
http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-constellation-edf-calvert-cliff20101027,0,186420.story

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Click here to find out more! EDF and Constellation announce agreement on planned nuclear reactor in Maryland

Image via WikipediaUnder the deal announced late Tuesday, EDF will acquire Baltimore-based Constellation's 50 percent ownership in the joint venture known as UniStar for $140 million.

In addition to sites for Calvert Cliffs 3 and a potential fourth reactor in Maryland, Constellation will transfer to UniStar potential new nuclear sites at Nine Mile Point and R.E. Ginna in New York. More at:
http://www.latimes.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-us-edf-constellation,0,789311.story

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• Constellation, EDF scrap nuke plant alliance (marketwatch.com)
• EDF, Constellation announce deal on US reactor (sfgate.com)
• UPDATE 1-EDF and Constellation settle nuclear project dispute (reuters.com)
• EDF to Buy $249 Million Constellation Nuclear Stake (businessweek.com)
• Buyout Keeps Plan Alive for Maryland Nuclear Plant (nytimes.com)
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Nuclear society president-elect says loan guarantee changes are needed

The president-elect of the American Nuclear Society said the US
Department of Energy's loan guarantee program needs changes if it is to
increase the number of nuclear power plants in the country.

     The current program "is in need of reform," Eric Loewen said Monday at a
Nuclear Energy Insider-sponsored conference in Charlotte, North Carolina,
citing Constellation Energy's withdrawal earlier this month from consideration
for a loan guarantee for a planned reactor project in Maryland. 

     The government's offer of a $7.5 billion loan guarantee with an attached
fee of $880 million shows the program needs revisions, Loewen said.

     "The Office of Management and Budget has set terms and conditions [that]
may destroy the project's economics and prevent the project from going
forward," he said. More at:

http://www.platts.com/RSSFeedDetailedNews/RSSFeed/Nuclear/8107310

Constellation asks $1 for stake in nuclear plant

Constellation: EDF can buy stake in Md. nuclear project for $1
Constellation Energy Group is prepared to sell its share of the Calvert Cliffs nuclear project to Electricite de France for $1, said Michael Wallace, chief operating officer of Constellation. The company said it would request $117 million in reimbursement costs for the Maryland project. "Market forces have worked against us," including weak natural gas prices and escalating construction expenses, Wallace added. Bloomberg Businessweek/The Associated Press

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More to Constellation Pullout Than Fiery Letter Indicates

By Nancy E. Roth, Managing Editor
Reliable industry sources have told FCW that the high credit subsidy fee Constellation Energy criticized in a scalding letter to the U.S. Department of Energy last Friday by no means represents all of the company’s motives in withdrawing from discussions of a loan guarantee in support of its Calvert Cliffs new-build project.
More at:

http://fuelcycle.blogspot.com/2010/10/more-to-constellation-pullout-than.html

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EDF, Constellation Ties Worsen Over $2 Billion Plant Option

EDF seeks to purchase Constellation's stake in U.S. nuclear venture

 

Electricite de France has offered to acquire the shares that Constellation Energy Group holds in their joint U.S. nuclear power venture. EDF also said it is prepared to proceed with the construction of a third reactor at the Calvert Cliffs facility in Maryland on its own. Bloomberg

 

(10/14) , Bloomberg Businessweek/The Associated Press

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O'Malley, Other Officials Work to Save Nuclear Reactor Project

Md. governor seeks to revive Constellation's nuclear project
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley held discussions with Electricite de France executives in an effort to salvage plans to build a third reactor at Constellation Energy's Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, said Shaun Adamec, a spokesman for the governor. Constellation last week informed the Department of Energy that it cannot proceed with its bid for a $7.5 billion federal loan guarantee for the project because the proposed terms and conditions were unworkable. O'Malley was "very surprised and disappointed at Constellation pulling out of what was almost universally perceived as a near-complete process," Adamec said. Southern Maryland Online/Capital News Service (Maryland)
http://www.somd.com/news/headlines/2010/12596.shtml

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EdF charges Constellation pulls out of US reactor project

EdF charges Constellation pulls out of US reactor project by Staff Writers Paris (AFP) Oct 9, 2010 French electricity generator EDF said Saturday it was shocked and disappointed that Constellation Energy has decided to pull out of a project to build a nuclear power plant in the US state of Maryland. "EDF is extremely disappointed and shocked to learn that Constellation has unilaterally decided to withdraw from the Calvert Cliffs 3 project," the company said in a statement.
Earlier, Constellation Energy had said it was unable to obtain a workable US federal loan guarantee for their joint venture, Unistar, to build the third generation reactor.
EDF said they had been "at the finish line" in the loan guarantee process and that Constellation had withdrawn "in spite of our repeated efforts to substantially decrease their exposure and risk to the project."
Constellation Energy said the federal loan guarantee application had not been withdrawn, but that its cost as calculated by the US government's Office of Management and Budget was "unreasonably burdensome and would create unacceptable risks and costs for our company."
No decisions have been made regarding the future of Calvert Cliffs 3, Constellation Energy added.
EDF charged, however, that Constellation was well aware of the consequences of its actions for the future of Calvert Cliffs 3, which it called a project of "monumental importance to Maryland" that would create 4,000 new jobs.
EDF, in which the French state holds an 85-percent stake, added it "remains committed to pursuing new nuclear in the U.S."
The French company has ambitions to build four third-generation European Pressurised Reactors (EPR) in the United States.
Analysts said Thursday that EDF's managers had expressed readiness to look for new US partners if its partnership with Constellation Energy collapsed.

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Unanswered questions about Constellation

Unanswered questions about Constellation

What really happened with Calvert Cliffs?

Did Constellation really walk away?
It isn’t the end of the nuclear renaissance in the U.S., but it is an ugly turn of events. See more at link.

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EDF eyes nuclear waste site construction role-paper

EDF seeks role in planned French nuclear-waste facility
Electricite de France reportedly seeks to manage development of a $48.2 billion underground nuclear-waste facility in France, according to a newspaper report. The report said EDF would shoulder 80% of expenses for the project, while Areva and the French Atomic Energy Commission would cover the rest. Reuters

Blog Post: Bloomberg: Constellation, EDF in Negotiations to Save Nuclear Venture

from Nuclear Power Industry News by Nuclear Street News Team

Electricite de France SA  and Constellation Energy Group Inc. are in talks to avoid the collapse of their U.S. nuclear venture, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing two people with knowledge of the discussions.
The Baltimore-based Constellation is due by December to decide whether or not to exercise a put option to sell non-nuclear plants to EDF for up to $2 billion -- a move that EDF would view as likely to jeopardize their relationship and a venture to develop new nuclear projects.
The talks began in the past two to three weeks and the companies expect to come to an agreement within the next month, one of the people told Bloomberg.
Constellation spokesman Larry McDonnell declined to comment on the put option with Europe's biggest utility, while Carole Trivi, an EDF spokeswoman, also declined to comment.
Full story at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-24/edf-constellation-are-said-to-be-in-talks-on-saving-u-s-nuclear-venture.html

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France considers its position

from World Nuclear News by Jeremy Gordon

France is revising its nuclear strategy to improve reactor technology and boost cooperation between national champions Areva and Electricité de France. Up to 15% of Areva will be sold as optimisation takes place on the EPR design.

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