EdF/Constellation deal goes through

State regulators in Maryland have granted Electricité de France (EdF) conditional rights to take over part of Constellation Energy. EdF’s bid for 49.99 percent of Constellation Energy’s nuclear generation was slowed down by issues related to Constellation’s state-regulated subsidiary, Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE). In order to allow the transaction, the Maryland Public Service Commission had to determine whether it would be “consistent with the public interest, convenience and necessity, including benefits and no harm to consumers.”

EdF made a number of commitments to the state at a total cost of $110.5 million, including a new $20 million visitor center at Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant. The commission said that EdF would also have to make a one-time payment of $110.5 million to BGE’s residential customers.

Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant. Photo, Constellation Energy Group Inc. Click here to enlarge image

Plans to build a new reactor at Calvert Cliffs by EdF and Constellation through their UniStar joint venture are now on track. The Maryland Public Service Commission passed a certificate of need for the reactor in June and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is still working on its assessment of the Areva EPR reactor design and a combined construction and operating license application that has already been submitted. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has accepted the project as one of four finalists for a DOE loan guarantee.

Calvert Cliffs could be just the start for UniStar.

“What makes us somewhat unique is that we have a four-unit model,” said UniStar Nuclear Energy President and CEO George Vanderheyden in a recent interview with Nuclear Power International’s sister publication, Power Engineering magazine. “Our intention is to build a minimum of four identical nuclear power plants at various places in the country and we want to do that about a year or two apart. And the plans will be standardized.”

Hydro-Quebec to acquire NB Power assets

The premiers of the Canadian provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) under which Hydro-Quebec will acquire most of the assets of New Brunswick Power, including the refurbished Point Lepreau nuclear power plant.

Hydro-Quebec would pay an amount equivalent to NB Power’s debt, approximately C$4.75 billion (US$4.4 billion), thereby completely eliminating the deficit.

Point Lepreau nuclear power plant. Photo NB Power. Click here to enlarge image

The Point Lepreau nuclear power plant (after the completion of its refurbishment), the hydro facilities, the peaking power plants and the transmission and distribution assets of NB Power are part of the proposed transaction. Hydro-Quebec would not assume any liabilities with respect to the Point Lepreau refurbishment project, which prepares the reactor for another 30 years of service.

When complete, the exchange will mark NB Power’s exit from nuclear generation, Point Lepreau being its only reactor. Hydro-Quebec meanwhile would double its nuclear generating capacity to 1,260 MWe as the acquisition joins Gentilly 2. The two Candu-6 units are considered twins and Hydro-Quebec has already decided to refurbish Gentilly 2 as an alternative to closing it in 2011.

A coal-fired power plant at Belledune and an oil-fired plant at Coleson Cove will continue to be owned and operated by the province of New Brunswick and would supply electricity to Hydro-Quebec under the terms of tolling agreements. Under the terms of the MOU, Hydro-Quebec could direct New Brunswick to shut down these plants with one year’s prior notice.

The majority of NB Power’s assets could be transferred to Hydro-Quebec by the end of March 2010. Assuming the successful completion of the refurbishment of Point Lepreau and the restart of the plant, Point Lepreau would be taken on by Hydro-Quebec toward the end of January 2011. Once the transaction is completed, NB Power would continue to operate as a separate entity, using its existing name and corporate identity.

EDF/E.ON plan swap

Electricité de France SA, Europe’s biggest generator, and E.ON AG, Germany’s largest utility, agreed to swap assets to cut debt and meet antitrust regulations.

E.ON will get the 35 percent it doesn’t own in French energy supplier SNET and rights to 800 MW of nuclear output in return for giving up 1,215 MW of atomic and coal-fired generation in Germany.

Both utilities are seeking to sell more than 15 billion euros of assets to pay down debt accrued by buying up rivals. E.ON has now divested more than 4,400 MW of the 5,000 MW it pledged to end a European Commission probe and avoid a potential penalty for violating European Union antitrust rules. The transaction is still subject to approval by regulators and the companies’ supervisory boards.

MHI opens turbine plant

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (MHI) has completed the construction of a new manufacturing plant at its Takasago Machinery Works in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, dedicated to the production of steam turbine rotors for nuclear power. The new facility is capable of the integrated production of rotors, from material processing to finished products, at a rate of 10 units per year.

The new plant will play a key role for advanced pressurized water reactors in the U.S. and Europe by producing one of the world’s largest nuclear power plant turbines, featuring 70-inch-class turbine blades.

Toshiba opens new engineering facility

Toshiba began operations at the new engineering facilities at its main nuclear power engineering center in Yokohama, Japan. The new facility will be responsible for engineering work to construct two advanced boiling water reactors (ABWRs) for the South Texas Project in the U.S.

Construction of the facility at the Isogo Nuclear Engineering Centre (IEC) began in October 2008. The IEC is Toshiba’s core facility for promoting nuclear power plant engineering work for boiling water reactors, fast breeder reactors and the nuclear fuel cycle.

Luvata wins contract for ITER

Luvata, the global metals-manufacturing and technology company, was awarded a $26 million contract in early October by the U.S. Department of Energy to supply superconductive material for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project.

The contract was awarded to Luvata Waterbury Inc., a subsidiary of Luvata Fabrication North America, to supply materials for the world’s largest nuclear fusion initiative.

Luvata will be responsible for supplying 86 percent of the U.S. commitment for superconductive wire and copper wire needed to complete the project over the next two years.

Using a $15 billion plasma device designed by ITER scientists, the project will work to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion power. (See story on page 24 for more on ITER.)

The U.S. contribution to ITER’s construction is a DOE Office of Science project consisting of procurement of hardware (including supporting R&D and design); assignment of personnel (U.S. engineers and scientists) to the ITER site; and cash contributions for the U.S. share of common expenses such as personnel infrastructure, assembly and installation.

Japan’s Amano named new IAEA chief

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) formally appointed Japanese diplomat Yukiya Amano as its new director general of the U.N. nuclear watchdog. Amano is replacing Egypt’s Mohamed ElBaradei, who is ending a 12-year run as head of the IAEA.

Japanese diplomat Yukiya Amano, new director general of the IAEA. Photo, Dean Calma/IAEA. Click here to enlarge image

Amano has held increasingly senior positions in the Japanese Foreign Ministry since starting there in 1972. He has had extensive experience in disarmament, non-proliferation and nuclear energy policy and also served in the Japanese embassies in Washington, Brussels and Vientiane.

Areva centrifuge cascade will spin by end of year

Full testing of the new Georges Besse II uranium enrichment plant entered its final phase in early November and Areva said that the first centrifuge cascade will begin spinning at the end of the year, with full production capacity targeted for 2016.

The Tricastin nuclear site, location of Areva’s Georges Besse II. Photo, N. Spring, Nuclear Power International. Click here to enlarge image

Work is proceeding according to plan, despite complications. Areva recently discovered anomalies in inspections of a certain number of non-conforming welds but a corrective action plan was rolled out to repair the welds in question.

Located at the Tricastin nuclear site between the Drà´me and Vaucluse departments in Provence, France, the plant, which has been under construction for three years, will ultimately consist of two enrichment units. Thanks to its modular structure, overall production will reach 7.5 million separative work units (SWU) per year in 2016, two years ahead of schedule. Areva supplies nearly one fourth of all enrichment services worldwide.

More Nuclear Power International Issue Articles

Nuclear Power International Issue Archives

View Power Generation Articles on PennEnergy.com