U.S.
Decommissioning of the Zion Nuclear Power Station is now 88 percent complete and well ahead of its original 10-year project timeline, EnergySolutions announced Tuesday.
The Illinois facility, which was retired in 1998, is now on schedule and within budget for completion of decommissioning in 2018, according to the company. Decommissioning, which was budgeted at just under $1 billion, was originally scheduled to wrap up around 2020.
EnergySolutions subsidiary ZionSolutions announced in April that crews had removed the last remaining large components from the plant. The company said Tuesday demolition of the turbine hall is nearing completion, and the next milestone will be dismantlement of the plant’s containment buildings.
The company also touted design and construction of the “most modern and largest” decontamination and decommissioning independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI); transfer of spent fuel to the ISFSI in a world-record 366 days; the industry’s first successful segmentation, removal, transportation, and disposal of both reactor vessels; and completion of the D&D industry’s “largest and most efficient major component removal and disposal project.”
“This six year overall performance reflects our workers dedication to excellence in the safe decommissioning of the Zion Nuclear Power Station and we are extremely proud of our employees for the efficient work completed,” EnergySolutions President Ken Robuck said in a statement.
North American environmental services company US Ecology recorded $124.8 million of total revenue for the third quarter of 2016, down 15.9 percent from $148.4 million in the same quarter last year, according to the company’s latest earnings report Thursday.
The report showed a quarterly net income of $10.1 million or $0.46 per diluted share. Based in Boise, Idaho, US Ecology provides waste management services to commercial and government entities, including treatment, disposal, and recycling of hazardous and radioactive waste, as well as field and industrial services.
Total revenue for the first three quarters of 2016 was $252.1 million, down from $266.3 million in the first nine months of 2015. The company now expects diluted earnings per share of $1.54 to $1.65 and adjusted EBITDA to range from $113 to $118 million for 2016. Those projections are down from previously issued guidance of $1.80 to $1.95 per diluted share and adjusted EBITDA of $126 million to $132 million.
“Continued sluggishness in the macro industrial environment resulted in our third quarter not materializing as expected,” President and CEO Jeff Feeler said in a statement. “Recurring Base Business delivered solid 4% growth for our Environmental Services segment during the quarter and was in-line with expectations. However, we continued to experience challenging market dynamics in our Event Business resulting from a combination of project delays and fewer remedial cleanup opportunities. Our Field and Industrial Services business unit saw solid growth on a year-over-year basis but also delivered lower than anticipated results on softer business activity levels.”
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects to reach a decision on Entergy’s request to transfer the operating license for the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant in New York state to fellow utility Exelon by March, the agency said in a recent letter to Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.).
Entergy in August agreed to sell the plant to Exelon for $110 million, after the New York Public Service Commission approved Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Clean Energy Standard, which is projected to pay upstate nuclear power plant operators nearly $8 billion in energy subsidies over the program’s lifetime. Exelon has said Cuomo’s program is critical to the sale, which faces opposition from environmentalists and other utilities that argue the subsidies are not in New York’s best interest. Both the NRC and the Federal Energy Regulattory Commission must approve the deal.
Entergy had originally planned to close FitzPatrick by 2017 for economic challenges, including low natural gas prices and a poor energy market design that suppressed energy and capacity prices in the region. It repeatedly fended off New York lawmakers’ attempts to save the plant.
The plant’s $600 million decommissioning trust fund would be transferred from the state Power Authority to Entergy under the license transfer request. The decision will require written consent from the commission, following technical and financial reviews by NRC staff.
In line with officials from the jurisdictions surrounding the New York facility, Katko in a Sept. 16 letter to the NRC explained FitzPatrick’s importance to the local and regional economy, citing the 600 jobs it provides.
“The plant is a vital part of the region’s economy, and an indispensable part of New York State’s plan to dramatically increase the emmissions-free portion of the state’s energy mix,” the lawmaker wrote.
The NRC responded to Katko in an Oct. 17 letter, which was made public Monday.
Areva is touting the performance of its Areva TN Americas NUHOMS used nuclear fuel storage systems at four nuclear sites following Hurricane Matthew, which produced 100-mph winds and wreaked havoc along the East Coast in early October.
Operators took special precautions for the storm at Florida’s St. Lucie Nuclear Plant and Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station, North Carolina’s Brunswick Nuclear Generating Station and Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant, and South Carolina’s H.B. Robinson Nuclear Plant.
The above-ground horizontal NUHOMS system can withstand impacts from extreme winds, wind-accelerated objects, and deep flood waters, Areva said Friday in a press release, which did not specify which four nuclear sites use the fuel storage systems.
According to Areva, the storage design’s 4-feet-thick reinforced concrete structures can “withstand maximum wind speeds of 360 mph, which is the sum of a severe storm’s 290 mph rotational speed plus a maximum storm movement speed of 70 mph.” Concerning accelerated objects, the fortress-like structure can handle impact from telephone poles, steel pipes, and automobiles. The design also has a flood height of 50 feet with water velocity at 15 feet per second, or submerged water pressure equivalent to 21.7 psi, according to Areva. The 18.5-foot-tall concrete NUHOMS modules cannot tip over in severe flood conditions, the press release stated.
“We join (the Nuclear Energy Institute) in recognizing the five nuclear energy facilities for their effective preparations for solidly weathering Hurricane Matthew, reinforcing that U.S. nuclear energy continues to be the country’s most safe, reliable and significant source of low-carbon electricity,” the company said.
INTERNATIONAL
French nuclear specialist AREVA on Thursday reported 880 million euros ($961.6 million) in revenue for the third quarter of 2016, a 6 percent decrease from the third quarter of 2015.
The Paris-based energy, water, and waste company reported 2.8 billion euros ($3.1 billion) in revenue for the first three quarters of 2016, a 0.9 percent spike from the same period in 2015. AREVA also updated its upward revision for the 2016 outlook.
Net cash flow from company operations is now expected between negative 900 million euros ($983.4 million) and negative 600 million euros (4655.6 million), compared to an initial forecast of negative 2 billion euros ($2.19 billion) to negative 1.5 billion euros ($1.64 billion).
AREVA also reported 32.2 billion euros ($35.2 billion) in backlog, a 10.9 percent increase in relation to Dec. 31, 2015, representing close to eight years of revenue.
Backlog in AREVA’s back-end business, which includes recycling, international projects, logistics, and dismantling, was 11.5 billion euros ($12.6 billion) as of Sept. 30, 2016, compared with 9.6 billion euros ($10.5 billion) at the end of 2015. Back-end revenue was reported at 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) over the first nine months of 2016, up 5.9 percent from the same period in 2015. Revenue benefitted mainly in the recycling business, according to AREVA’s report, from increased production volumes at the La Hague site and from a higher volume of business with European customers.
The United Kingdom last week successfully delivered 132 canisters of highly active nuclear waste to Japan, nuclear material transport contractor International Nuclear Services (INS) announced Monday.
INS is a wholly owned subsidiary of the U.K.’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). It joined its own subsidiary, Pacific Nuclear Transport Ltd. (PNTL), and the NDA’s Sellafield Ltd. in transporting the waste through the Panama Canal. This is the sixth such shipment to Japan under the Vitrified Residue Returns program, which is the NDA’s approach to repatriating highly active waste from the U.K. It was PNTL’s 18th nuclear waste shipment from Europe to Japan since 1995.
Hauling five transport flasks, the Pacific Grebe nuclear cargo vessel was unloaded at the port of Mutsu-Ogawara, and the material was then transported by road to Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd.’s storage facility at Rokkasho-Mura. The flasks were first moved via rail from the U.K.’s Sellafield site to Barrow-in-Furness in August.
“We’re delighted to have successfully completed the sixth shipment of waste to Japan. It’s another demonstration of INS and PNTL’s extensive and proven expertise in nuclear material transportation,” INS Managing Director Mark Jervis said in a statement. “I would like to thank our transport partners and customers for their hard work and co-operation in making this shipment such a success. We know that with meticulous planning and collaboration we can continue to deliver progress in this long-term programme.”
