Exelon reactor closures show how the nuclear rot is really settling in for America
Exelon Corp. (EXC) Nuclear Plant Closures Point To Wider Challenges Facing US Nuclear Sector, International Business Times, BY MARIA GALLUCCI @MARIAGALLUCCI ON 06/03/16 Exelon Corp.’s announcement this week that it plans to shutter two Illinois nuclear plants comes at a harrowing time for the U.S. nuclear power sector. Amid fierce competition from cheap natural gas and withering support from state policymakers, utilities are increasingly struggling to keep the aging, hulking power plants in operation.
Chicago-based Exelon (NYSE:EXC), which owns utilities serving Chicago, Philadelphia and Baltimore plus many power plants, said it will close its Clinton plant in mid-2017 and the Quad Cities plant in mid-2018. The nuclear stations lost a combined $800 million in the past seven years, despite being two of the company’s best-performing plants, Exelon said Thursday.
The power company had been waiting on Illinois policymakers to adopt measures to reward nuclear plants and other carbon-free power sources that help the state meet its climate change targets. The legislation included other provisions that would have slapped new charges on consumer energy bills. The policies are entangled in a broader budget war between Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and House Speaker Michael Madigan, a Chicago Democrat……
Wholesale prices are likely to remain low in the next few years, which could spell a death sentence for aging plants in need of costly upgrades and lengthy repairs. The majority of the country’s 99 nuclear reactors are more than 30 years old and could operate potentially for as long as 80 years — but only if utilities can afford to keep them running.
Between 15 and 20 nuclear reactors are considered at risk of premature closure within the next five to 10 years, the Nuclear Energy Institute, a trade group, has estimated.
Opponents of nuclear power say that may be a good thing, given the longstanding concerns over radioactive waste disposal and the looming threat of a meltdown, particularly in the wake of the 2011 disaster in Fukushima, Japan. An Associated Press investigation that year found that radioactive tritium has leaked from three-quarters of U.S. nuclear power sites and in some cases contaminated the drinking wells of nearby homes.
Entergy’s Indian Point nuclear plant, which sits just 25 miles north of New York City, has faced a series of mishaps in the last year, including a power failure in the reactor core, an alarm failure and the escape of radiated water into groundwater. Federal officials with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are now investigating the degradation of critical stainless steel baffle bolts in one of the plant’s nuclear reactors.
“This aging nuclear power plant is becoming increasingly unreliable and puts the welfare of 20 million people at risk every day,” Paul Gallay, president of the citizen group Riverkeeper, which opposes Indian Point, said in a recent opinion piece………..http://www.ibtimes.com/exelon-corp-exc-nuclear-plant-closures-point-wider-challenges-facing-us-nuclear-2377652
USA pushing nuclear deal with India, in the interests of Japanese company Toshiba Westinghouse
this [India] is a country both Wall Street and Washington have their eyes on
Will U.S. Get India To Ink Big Nuclear Deal With A Japanese Owned Company?, Forbes, Kenneth Rapoza , 2 June,
When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes to town on Monday, a Japanese-owned company may be the biggest beneficiary.
One of the key takeaways Modi and President Obama would would like to see come of this trip is a commitment to build six nuclear power plants by Westinghouse Electric. The Western Pennsylvania based company is an historic American electric manufacturer, but it was acquired by Toshiba in February 2006. Even the Kazakhs own 10% of it under Kazatomprom, their state-owned nuclear power company. Yet, Westinghouse is Washington’s favorite nuclear power company and next week it might make headlines again if it manages to ink a muito-billion dollar deal for its new AP-1000 reactors.
India Ambassador Arun Singh told reporters on Wednesday that the deal was in its “advanced stages.”
The two sides were largely waiting on a nuclear liability law that will essentially create a new insurance product for nuclear power utilities. Westinghouse and its partner in India, the Nuclear Power Corporation (NPCIL), are still waiting for the details of that insurance policy to be ironed out, thinks Richard M. Rossow, a senior fellow on U.S.-India policy for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington………
Westinghouse has a long history of tapping Washington for lucrative deals abroad. Since the mid-2000s, Westinghouse has been able to count on Washington to pitch its wares to countries where Russia is a key, if not dominant player. Currently, Russia’s Rosatom has only two reactors in India, both located in Tamil Nadu state. India has 21 nuclear power plants, most of it indigenous technology.
A deal for all six power plants would be good news for Westinghouse Electric and its owners at Toshiba, which has fallen on hard luck over the past five years.
Toshiba used to design and build reactors for half of Japan, also supplying those reactors with the fuel rods that hold the uranium used to generate electricity. The March 2011 Fukushima disaster lit a match to those service contracts and Toshiba’s Fukushima reactors are decommissioned. Germany shut its reactors down after Fukushima, too. They also used Westinghouse as a source for fuel rods. In less than two years, Toshiba and Westinghouse Electric lost contracts at 60 reactors. Between 2012 and 2014, Westinghouse Electric’s cumulative operating losses reached $1.43 billion, according to Toshiba……
this [India] is a country both Wall Street and Washington have their eyes on…….http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2016/06/03/will-u-s-get-india-to-ink-big-nuclear-deal-with-japanese-owned-company/#4f7edc32c94f
Georgia new nuclear plant, over budget, behind schedule, and now hits a new snag
Jacob Hawkins said the company will suspend preliminary work on the site if McDonald’s motion passes.
“A delay of even a few years in these actions will jeopardize our ability to keep new nuclear as a timely option for customers,” he said…..
McDonald’s motion comes as the commission is set to hear testimony next week on construction of the nation’s first two commercial nuclear reactors in 30 years at Plant Vogtle, where Georgia Power is the majority owner. It is three years behind schedule and around $1 billion over budget, and the commission staff is investigating whether to recommend having electricity customers pay the tab for the overage.
Last week, SCANA asked the South Carolina counterpart to the commission to charge their customers for $852 million in overages for two reactors it is building at Plant Summer…….http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/metro/2016-06-02/plans-more-nuclear-generation-hit-obstacle?v=1464916692#comment-form
Make no mistake: America’s nuclear industry is in trouble.
One suggestion for getting the market to better value nuclear’s attributes is changing state renewable energy mandates to “clean energy standards” that would give utilities more incentives to invest in nuclear power
Nuclear plants need boost to stay open, industry warns, The Blade, Davis-Besse on list of most at-risk sites By TOM HENRY | BLADE STAFF WRITER May 30, 2016 Make no mistake: America’s nuclear industry is in trouble.
Many of the strongest statements about it are no longer found in the hyperbole of anti-nuclear groups but in dire predictions from industry figures such as the Nuclear Energy Institute’s Marvin Fertel, who said at a recent U.S. Department of Energy conference in Washington there’s a “sense of urgency” to improve economics of the nation’s 99 remaining nuclear plants……
Ohio and Michigan are among 13 states with deregulated electricity markets where nuclear plants have an especially hard time competing. Those with single units have even more difficulty, officials said.
A 2013 Vermont Law School report listed Davis-Besse as one of a dozen plants most likely to close early because of economics……..
Wind and solar power are attacked by pro-nuclear advocates these days because of their start-up subsidies.
But several years ago, a conservative group, Taxpayers for Common Sense, identified $85 billion in subsidies to nuclear power since 1948, of which more than $66 billion was spent on nuclear energy research and subsidies through 1998…….
The industry expected 30 or more next-generation nuclear plants would be built after billions of dollars in incentives were offered by Congress in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. But those efforts have resulted in the construction of only four new reactors, the twin-unit Vogtle plant in Georgia and the twin-unit V.C. Summer plant in South Carolina…..
One suggestion for getting the market to better value nuclear’s attributes is changing state renewable energy mandates to “clean energy standards” that would give utilities more incentives to invest in nuclear power……http://www.toledoblade.com/Energy/2016/05/30/Nuclear-plants-need-boost-to-stay-open-industry-warns.html
Costs for building South Carolina’s 2 new nuclear reactors have jumped dramatically
SCE&G Requests $852 Million Increase in Cost of VC Summer Nuclear Construction Project; Huntington News, , June 3, 2016 – EDITED FROM A PRESS RELEASE Columbia, SC – The current cost for the construction of two new nuclear reactors by South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) has jumped a stunning $852 million, according to a request filed with the South Carolina Public Service Commission (SC PSC) on May 26, 2016, (See filing linked in “notes” below.)
The filing made by SCE&G states that “the capital cost estimate for which the Company seeks Commission approval in this proceeding is $6.8 billion in 2007 dollars and $7.7 billion with escalation.”
As SCE&G is now a 55% owner of the project, with Santee Cooper owning the other 45% (set to go down to 40%), this means that the overall cost of the project is now around $14 billion. Expected schedule delays or construction problems will only add to that cost…….
The company has also requested delays in achievement of completion milestones in key aspects of construction.
“The request for a cost of overrun of this magnitude will hit consumers hard and the PSC should for once side with residential and business customers and require for SCE&G its shareholders to bear a major portion of the cost increase as it is in large part due to poor project management,” said Tom Clements, director of Savannah River Site Watch. “The law under which the project is being pursued is not a blank check for endless cost overruns and schedule delays and the company must be held accountable by the PSC for the costly problems and mistakes with the project.”
Also on May 26, SCE&G informed the PSC that it would be filing for its annual nuclear cost rate hike, as allowed by the Baseload Review Act (passed by the SC legislature in 2007). SCE&G rate payers have already been hit with eight (8) rate hike under the BLRA – the first was approved when the project was
approved by the PSC – so the next pay-in-advance rate hike will be number 9. According to the SC Office of Regulatory Staff (ORS) – in an email to Tom Clements in September 2015 – an average SCE&G residential customers is now paying 15.5% of the bill for advance payment of financing costs for the project (as allowed by the BLRA). It is unknown what will happen to rates when the much larger capital (construction) costs go into the bill.
SCE&G claims it has agreed to a “fixed cost” with Westinghouse and Fluor for future costs of the project but that cost can increase with “future change orders which are Owner-directed or based on changed circumstances,” according to the filing, or with any PSC rulings allowing yet more cost increases. “The claim that the cost is fixed is very misleading as it’s clear that there can be future cost increases, all of which would be passed on to the consumer if allowed by the PSC. The cost of the project is not capped and unless the PSC acts responsibly to curb the cost the sky’s the limit on future cost overruns, so customers should be braced for yet more negative rate impacts,” said Clements.
Both Santee Cooper and the electric cooperatives will at some point be hit with higher rates due to the cost increase with the nuclear project but details of those impacts are unknown…….http://www.huntingtonnews.net/137578
Russia keen to get in on the business of cleaning up Fukushima nuclear mess
Rosatom, Japan discuss decommissioning of Fukushima installations https://rbth.com/news/2016/06/02/rosatom-japan-discuss-decommissioning-of-fukushima-installations_599603
“Our partners are showing ever greater interest in the final stage of the life cycle: decommissioning. We are currently discussing this with the Japanese partners,” Kirienko said.
Rosatom enterprises have fulfilled the order to develop unique technology for treating water at Fukushima for the Japanese partners, he added.
Russia moving in on America as a market for its nuclear fuel
Russian Nuclear Fuel Giant Making A Move In U.S. Markets, Oil Price, 2 June 16, http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Russian-Nuclear-Fuel-Giant-Making-A-Move-In-US-Markets.html CHARLES KENNEDY Far from the specific paranoia of the Cold War era, talk now is that Russia’s Rosatom nuclear fuel giant may soon end up supplying 10 percent of U.S. nuclear fuel needs.
In partnership with General Electric Co. (GE), Russian state-owned Rosatom is expanding its nuclear fuel supply to the US, hoping to gain a 10-percent market share—adding to the 20 percent of the US enriched uranium market it already controls.
Last week, Rosatom’s TVEL signed an agreement with U.S. Global Nuclear Fuel-Americas, a subsidiary of GE-Hitachi, on cooperation in licensing, marketing and fabrication of fuel for U.S. Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs).
According to Russian news agencies, Russia currently holds 17 percent of the global nuclear power plant fuel market. That means it has covered all of its own supply for 76 reactors, along with the reactors in 14 more countries. By 2019-2020, Rosatom hopes to be supply nuclear fuel to the U.S..
Speaking at the Atomexpo-2016 on Monday, where it signed US$10 billion in deals, Rosatom TVEL Fuel Company vice-president Oleg Grigoryev said: “We expect the share of our deliveries to be more than 10% of the US market for this kind of fuel.”
TVEL’s exports already exceed US$1 billion annually, according to Russia’s Tass news agency. The move to gain this extra nuclear fuel market share still requires approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
According to Bloomberg, Rosatom has been supplying low-enriched uranium to the U.S .since 1987.
Rosatom is apparently not targeted by U.S. sanctions.
In 1992, according to Bloomberg, an anti-dumpling investigation prompted trade controls that affected how much low-enriched uranium Rosatom could supply to the U.S.. From 2002 to 2011, Rosatom had to stop commercial supplies to the U.S. For now, the Russian giant has long-term uranium delivery contracts with Centrus Energy Corp. ,NextEra Energy Resources and Exelon Generation Company LLC.
China, South Korea and Russia battle to win Kenya as nuclear customer
Africa Energy: China, Russia and South Korea In Race To Build Kenya’s Nuclear Plant
By Allan Akombo AFKI : June 2, 2016– In less than 24 hours this week Kenya signed two pacts on nuclear energy cooperation with South Korea and Russia, setting the stage for a dead-heat race against China to clinch the east Africa nation’s forthcoming nuclear energy development contract.
The first deal was in Moscow on May 30, 2016 where Russia’s state nuclear agency, Rosatom Deputy Director Nikolai Spasskiy and Deputy Head of the Kenyan Embassy to Russia Hillary N. Kyengo signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that involves the creation of a working group to identify peaceful nuclear projects and also continue consultations on the possibility of building the first nuclear power plant in Kenya.
A day later and thousands of miles away in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi host President Uhuru Kenyatta and Korean President Park Geun-Hye witnessed the signing of a nuclear corporation pact after they held bilateral talks.
The MOU on electric power and nuclear energy development was signed by Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Charles Keter and Korean Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Joo Hyunghwan.
Barely two weeks ago, Rosatom said it plans to sign cooperation agreements with Kenya, Uganda and Zambia to lay the groundwork for an expanded presence in Sub-Saharan Africa beyond its planned bid to build nuclear power plants in South Africa.
Rosatom has voiced confidence in its ability to see off competition from China, France and South Korea in a planned South African tender to build a 9,600 megawatts (MW) nuclear power fleet in the continent’s most industrialized country.
It sees scope, however, for more deals across the region, from the building of plants to supplying reactor fuel.http://afkinsider.com/126827/africa-energy-china-russia-south-korea-race-build-kenyas-nuclear-plant/#sthash.f40J0946.dpuf
USA’s Westinghouse in rush to sell nuclear reactors to India
India, Westinghouse in advanced talks to close nuclear deal, live mint, http://www.livemint.com/Politics/DscD8CWjYrsVgpqQO7Fp1J/India-Westinghouse-in-advanced-talks-to-close-nuclear-deal.html Valerie Volcovici, 2 June 16,
India’s ambassador to the US Arun Singh says the issues that remain to be worked out are related to cost and financing. Washington: Toshiba Corp.’s Westinghouse Electric and India are in “advanced discussions” for the company to build six nuclear reactors there, the country’s ambassador to the United States said on Wednesday, ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s planned visit to Washington next week.
A deal with Westinghouse would be the first such contract reached under the 2008 US-India civil nuclear accord.
“There is a very detailed and advanced negotiation between Westinghouse and India,” Ambassador Arun Singh told reporters. “The issues that remain to be worked out are related to cost and financing.”
Progress on the deal to build six AP-1000 nuclear reactors is one of the key developments anticipated during the 7-8 June visit by Modi to Washington, where he will be hosted by President Barack Obama for a final summit before the US presidential election in November. Modi will address both houses of Congress.
The US and India agreed in 2008 to cooperate in the civil nuclear arena, but there have been no agreements yet to build any plants. Reuters reported on Tuesday that Westinghouse and India reached a breakthrough after officials said it will relocate the planned project in Andhra Pradesh. The original site proposed for the multi-billion-dollar project, in Modi’s home state of Gujarat, faced local opposition.
Another obstacle had been to bring India’s liability rules into line with international norms, which require the costs of an accident to be channelled to the operator rather than the maker of a nuclear power station.
That issue had been largely resolved to the satisfaction of the US government in January 2015 after the US and India reached a “breakthrough understanding” on nuclear cooperation.
Singh told reporters “to the best of my knowledge” insurance was no longer an issue in the discussions.
Westinghouse had hoped to clinch a deal to build six nuclear reactors in India by the end of March, during Modi’s last Washington trip to attend a global nuclear summit.
US lawmakers ratified the civil nuclear accord three years after it was struck in 2005, as part of an attempt to deepen the strategic relationship with India, but have expressed growing dismay over its failure to yield follow-on deals for US-based reactor makers. Reuters
Russia and China working together to market nuclear reactors to the world
Russia, China Working on Plan on Nuclear Cooperation Development. MOSCOW (Sputnik) 2 June 16 — Russia and China are working on a comprehensive document on the development of the bilateral strategic cooperation in the field of nuclear energy, the protocol of the Russia-China intergovernmental energy cooperation commission said.
Exelon’s 2 nuclear plants nearly dead, but not quite
Exelon nuclear plant bill called dead, but some still pushing it, Herald Review LEE NEWS SERVICE Jun 1, 2016 SPRINGFIELD — A bill aimed at helping Exelon’s money-losing nuclear plants near Clinton and the Quad-Cities likely won’t make it out of the spring legislative session, but the company hasn’t yet confirmed it will close the two plants.
“The general consensus is that it’s dead for this session,” said Henry Marquard, director of government relations for the Quad-Cities Chamber of Commerce. He said he had spoken with an aide to the bill’s main sponsor, state Sen. Donne Trotter, D-Chicago, as well as others at the Capitol.
The News-Gazette of Champaign also reported that Trotter has pulled the plug on the bill proposing what Exelon calls the “Next Generation Power Plan,” saying time had run out with the scheduled end of the spring legislative session on Tuesday.
“We have not received any official word yet from Exelon,” said Clinton Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Marian Brisard in a statement Tuesday. “We would also urge our government officials to realize the seriousness of this issue and address it accordingly.”
Brisard said the Chamber will continue “supporting the efforts to keep the Clinton Power Station open.” ……. The bill also would establish a surcharge on utility customers that would help the nuclear plants, which Exelon said have lost more than $800 million over the past seven years, and change how some consumer rates are calculated.
Consumer groups and others have objected to the legislation, calling it a bailout for a profitable company. http://herald-review.com/news/state-and-regional/exelon-nuclear-plant-bill-called-dead-but-some-still-pushing/article_95462389-1769-5f47-8577-a48592e76025.html
Three Mile Island – another example of the dim future for nuclear power
‘The future is dim’: Three Mile Island fails to sell future energy production, again, Penn Live, By Christian Alexandersen | calexandersen@pennlive.com “…….Eric Epstein, chairman of Three Mile Island Alert, said the marketplace has decided there are better energy options than nuclear power. Major investments have been made in solar and wind power, but not in nuclear.
Nuclear power, Epstein said, is just not economically competitive.
“There’s no private equity chasing nuclear power,” Epstein said. “When it comes to new construction, nuclear power plants are always over budget and behind schedule.”
DeSantis said Three Mile Island’s inability to sell its future energy production is significant. But, if it can’t sell its energy in the future, it will have to sell it on the daily energy market.
That’s where the prices have been historically low. The bottom barrel prices are due to the abundance of natural gas and flat demand for electricity.
“If you’re not getting capacity payments, then you’re only relying on the one revenue stream,” DeSantis said. “And prices are really low now.”
Epstein said he doesn’t believe Three Mile Island is in any immediate threat of closing down. However, nuclear power will be phased out by better energy alternatives over time, Epstein said.
Nuclear energy — like coal — will become a bridge fuel.
“I don’t know what the future holds, but the future is dim,” he said.http://www.pennlive.com/news/2016/06/the_future_is_dim_three_mile_i.html
Russia, China, marketing nuclear power to – well, just about everybody
Ghana explores nuclear power opportunities Business News , 30 May 2016 Source: Tv3network.com Ghana is among these emerging nuclear energy countries, as the country strives to meet the increasing demand of energy for domestic and industrial use. State-owned nuclear companies in Russia and China have taken the lead in offering nuclear power plants to emerging countries, usually with finance and fuel services.
Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation (ROSATOM) hosts the annual ATOMEXPO International Forum as a major exhibition and business platform for conducting meetings and negotiations between the worldwide leaders of the nuclear power industry.
The 2016 edition, holding in Moscow from May 30–June 2, provides leaders of nuclear power industry and nuclear power engineering with an opportunity to publically define the place and role of nuclear generation in the 21st century energy balance.
The Forum also promotes international cooperation between the Russian Federation and the countries of Latin America, Pacific Asia, Africa, Central and Eastern Europe in the field of nuclear power, and to discuss Russia’s proposal on developing national energy programs…….
Nuclear energy is growing globally with nearly 10 GW of new nuclear capacity supplying electricity in 2015 – more than double the average capacity connected each year in the previous decade.
Though there are long term prospects for nuclear, experts say the emerging nuclear energy countries are not expected to contribute very much to the expansion of nuclear capacity in the foreseeable future. http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/Ghana-explores-nuclear-power-opportunities-443245
Russia marketing nuclear fuel to USA !!
Will The Russians Become Fuel Supplier To U.S. Nuclear Power Plants? http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2016/05/31/will-the-russians-become-fuel-supplier-to-u-s-nuclear-power-plants/#413acf8f2638 Kenneth Rapoza , 31 May 16,
It’s not unprecedented. While the U.S. does not currently use Russian technology at any of its nuclear power stations, a deal between Global Nuclear Fuel Americas and TVEL would be the first to make it happen. Global Nuclear Fuel-Americas is a GE-led joint venture that includes its main nuclear power plant partner Hitachi and rival Toshiba, which owns Westinghouse.
Under the agreement proposed May 24, GE partners and TVEL will “work together toward the licensing, marketing and fabrication of fuel” for U.S. pressurized water reactors (PWRs). Global Nuclear Fuel and TVEL would create a strategic alliance with the purpose of introducing the Russian fuel rods into the U.S. market.
“We believe strongly in the TVEL technology,” said Jonathan Allen, a spokesman for GE Hitachi.
TVEL’s latest nuclear fuel assembly technology is for use in Westinghouse-designed reactors. There are currently 35 of these reactors operating in the U.S., but none of them are allowed to use TVEL’s technology because it has not yet been approved U.S. nuclear industry regulators. The assembly rod, known as the TVS-K design, has been used for many years in Rusatom’s VVER-1000 nuclear power plants at 78 nuclear power reactors in 15 countries, most of them in the former Soviet bloc.
“This (deal gives) additional diversification of fuel supplies to U.S. reactors,” said Oleg Grigoryev, Vice President of Commerce and International Cooperation at TVEL.
Russia’s entrance into the U.S. market comes at a time when its partner in the deal, Toshiba, is also trying to capture some of TVEL’s market share in Finland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Ukraine. Washington has actually lent support to Westinghouse in sales pitches to governments looking to move out of Russia’s energy orbit. A move to bring Russian technology to the U.S. could also be seen as a fig leaf to Moscow, which has been locked in an energy security battle for Europe over the last year.
Opening the U.S. market to Russian tech would be the same as the traditional Russian markets, including Ukraine, opening up to Westinghouse.
Fuel assembly rods are essentially the batteries of nuclear power plants. They hold the uranium that goes into the reactor that generates electricity. Westinghouse is TVEL’s biggest competitor. But Chinese developers, working close with Westinghouse and Toshiba in China in a tech sharing deal, are also moving up market and could become rival suppliers at some point in the future.
TVEL has a roughly 17% global market share of fuel assemblies, with Westinghouse and Areva competing for first place with close to 30%.
USA trying to beat Russia in selling nukes to India
Westinghouse to get new site for Indian nuclear plant – officials, Reuters NEW DELHI | BY DOUGLAS BUSVINE AND RUPAM JAIN , 31 May 16 Toshiba Corp’s (6502.T) Westinghouse Electric will relocate a planned project to build six nuclear reactors in India, said officials, bringing the first deal stemming from a U.S.-India civil nuclear accord struck over a decade ago closer to reality.
The six AP-1000 reactors would be built in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, after the original site proposed for the multi-billion-dollar project, in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat, faced local opposition.
The breakthrough comes ahead of a June 7-8 visit by Modi to Washington, where he will be hosted by President Barack Obama for a final summit before the U.S. presidential election in November, and will address both houses of Congress.
U.S. lawmakers ratified the civil nuclear accord three years after it was struck in 2005, as part of an attempt to deepen the strategic relationship with India, but have expressed growing dismay over its failure to yield follow-on deals for U.S.-based reactor makers like Westinghouse…….
Analysts say resolving the land issue is a crucial step, but complex issues remain, including project financing and reaching a civil nuclear pact with Japan, where Westinghouse parent Toshiba is based…..
Russia’s Rosatom operates two reactors at Kudankulam, in Tamil Nadu, while France’s EDF (EDF.PA) signed a preliminary deal with the state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) [NPCIL.UL] in January to build six reactors at Jaitapur, Maharashtra…..
Two sources, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, confirmed that the site was being acquired for Westinghouse, which plans to build six AP-1000 pressurized water reactors, each with a design capacity of around 1,100 megawatts.
Westinghouse did not respond to requests for comment, while senior executives at NPCIL were not available
………http://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-westinghouse-idUSKCN0YM0L2
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