Weekly Intelligence Brief 19 July – 26 JulyLead Story: China overtakes US as world’s largest energy consumer Companies and organisations included in this round-up include: International Energy Agency, Atomic Energy Commission, Variable Electron and Cyclotron Centre Kolkata,  USEC, Southern, Energy Solutions, Excelon, Duke Energy,KEPCO-Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Company, Korea Electric Power Corp, Luminant, Energy Future Holdings, E.On, Enel, EDF, DOE, and NRC

China overtakes US as world’s largest energy consumer

China has overtaken the United States to become the world's largest energy user, according to data compiled by the International Energy Agency.

China's rise to the top ranking was faster than expected as it was much less affected by the global financial crisis than the United States.

The news compounds the ever present need for China to become energy self-sufficient by developing domestically designed power technology, such as nuclear reactors, and solar farms, among other renewables, such as wind.

“What is more important is the phenomenal growth in demand that has taken place in China over the last decade; also prospects for future growth still remain incredibly strong,” said the report.

Since 2000, China’s energy demand has doubled, yet on a per capita basis it is still only around one-third of the OECD average.

Prospects for further growth are very strong considering the country’s low per-capita consumption level and the fact that China is the most populous nation on the planet, with more than 1.3 billion people.

China’s demand today would be even higher still if the government had not made such progress in reducing the energy intensity (the energy input per dollar of output) of its economy.

It has also very quickly become one of the world’s leaders in renewable energy, particularly wind power and solar energy, and paved the way for a big expansion of nuclear power.

The worldwide implications of these new trends will be assessed in the upcoming World Energy Outlook 2010 to be released on 9 November 2010.

See graph entitled Total primary energy demand and per-capita primary energy demand in China and the United States, 1990-2009

Education exercise needed for West Bengal nuclear plans

Despite people expressing that they are against a new nuclear power plant being built in Haripur in West Bengal's East Midnapore district, the plant construction will go ahead, according to Srikumar Banerjee, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission.

According to a sify.com report, Haripur is not only the place where resistance was faced to set up a nuclear power plant but such opposition was also being faced in other parts of country like Maharashtra.

Haripur is one of the five coastal sites selected by the centre for setting up a Nuclear Energy Park,' said Banerjee.

'We have not been given any deadline from the central government for the project.

“Land acquisition process will start in 18 months after environmental impact assessment process and geo- technical survey of the land gets completed,” said Banerjee speaking to the media following the 5th Raja Rammna Lecture at Variable Electron and Cyclotron Centre Kolkata.

Banerjee said they are expecting that construction work for the plant will start after two years and it will take another six years to start operation.

The Department of Atomic Energy has set aside 650 hectares at Haripur in East Midnapore where generation capacity would be 10,000Mg Wt.

The chairman of Atomic Energy Commission said attempts are being made by the commission to explain to people about the nuclear power plant and people are being taken to other power plants to see for themselves that such an initiative is not hazardous.

Stocks in nuclear supply chain to get sudden boost 

Nuclear energy is getting its share of support with company stocks in the nuclear supply chain seeing lifts in their share prices.

According to a report on financial website, fool.com, the certain companies are likely to see positive or boosted revenues in the next year or few following either being granted government loan guarantees or supply contracts for new build, waste disposal or decommisioning projects.

But as in any stock pick, not all company tales are paved in gold, and close surveying of company management developments and public notices are vital in this rocky economic climate.

But out of curiosity, here are some of the stocks highlighted in the report.

USEC (NYSE: USU): “secured $45 million for its centrifuge”

Southern (NYSE: SO) : “will benefit from $8 billion in government loan guarantees to build the first US nuclear power plant in almost three decades.”

Nuclear waste company Energy Solutions (NYSE: ES)

Excelon (NYSE: EXC) and Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK).

“A company that hold 80% ‘life-of-the-plant’ contracts for nuclear waste disposal will have a stable cash flow for the foreseeable future,” said the report.

“The likelihood for additional nuke plants in the future should occur and end of life disposal for existing plants gives this company some long-term potential for revenue growth.

“The risk investors need to keep an eye on is the rise of the NIMBY attitude -- Not In My Backyard.

"EnergySolutions had proposed dumping nuclear waste from one of its Italian clients in its Utah facility, causing an uproar that forced it to cancel the plan.

“There's growth here for sure, but it's not going to be without its challenges.”

US and Poland sign nuclear energy cooperation agreement

Backed by the US and France, Poland is set on generating atomic power by 2021, according to Polish news reports.

“Presently, coal accounts for over 93 percent of the eastern European country's electricity, demand for which is expected to double by 2025,” said a report in www.international.to.

A joint declaration of cooperation in the field of nuclear energy was signed between Trojanowska and U.S. under secretary of commerce and international trade Francisco Sanchez following a U.S. nuclear trade mission to Warsaw.

A four-stage plan announced by Hanna Trojanowska, the government's Plenipotentiary for Nuclear Energy, envisages appropriate legislation by the end of 2010; site, technology and construction arrangements between 2011 and 2013; technical plans and site works in 2014 and 2015; and construction from 2016 to 2020.

The report said that the declaration outlines the two governments' intention to cooperate in the civil nuclear power area.

“Specifically, the governments seek to encourage their private sectors to participate in the construction of nuclear plants and supporting infrastructure; to foster scientific research and development works to make nuclear solutions safe, effective, economical and friendly for the environment; and to promote fair, open, and transparent tender procedures in the nuclear energy sectors in their respective countries.

“The declaration also noted the intent to cooperate in the development of human resources for the civilian nuclear energy sector.”

$25bn in loan guarantees for new US nuclear reactors

House lawmakers approved a spending bill Thursday that includes $25 billion in loan guarantees for new nuclear reactors, an amount that could enable the expansion of North Texas' Comanche Peak plant, according to a dallasnews.com report.

Dallas-based Luminant, which owns the plant, said the additional amount "would be sufficient" to allow funding for its plan to build two reactors. Luminant said it was "the first alternate" last year when the U.S. Department of Energy selected four nuclear projects to further consider for loan guarantees.

"We can't guarantee it, but this is a very important step to enabling it," said David Campbell, Luminant’s chief executive.

Luminant is the power-generation unit of Energy Future Holdings.

Campbell credited Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, with helping to secure the funding.

An earlier draft of the legislation didn't include funding for the nuclear programme, which is unpopular among liberals in the House, cited the report.

"We are at the dawn of a nuclear power renaissance in the United States, which will create hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs and the clean energy our nation needs," Edwards said in a prepared statement.

In early 2010, the DOE awarded its Earlier first nuclear loan guarantee of $8.3bn to Southern Co. as well as sev – $8.3 billion to Southern Co. and several partners to construct two reactors in Georgia.

E.On undecided on reactor choice for Italy

Germany's E.On has not chosen a nuclear reactor design to power nuclear energy plants in Italy, the head of its Italian unit, Klaus Schaefer, said in an interview with an Italian newspaper.

"We still haven't taken a decision" on technology, Schaefer, who is chief executive of E.On Italia, told Il Sole 24 Ore in the interview, published on Sunday.

"We can count on lots of specific experience, with a variety of solutions in all the countries where we are operating," he said.

Italy’s Enel and France's EDF have selected French EPR reactors and Schaefer did not exclude his company also using that.

"Nothing excluded, no limits," he said.

Schaefer said there were still key elements missing from the plans, including rules for competition for sites and guarantees on stability for regulation.

Fire at Idaho National Laboratory grounds “contained”; cause unknown

A 109,305-acre fire, mostly on the grounds of a U.S. Energy Department facility containing a nuclear fuel development complex, has been fully contained, according to the government's InciWeb fire incident information website.

The “Jefferson Fire”, at the Idaho National Laboratory, about 40 miles west of Idaho Falls, had been burning since last Tuesday afternoon, driven by winds up to 45 mph.

The cause is still unknown.

InciWeb had said as of early Thursday afternoon, the fire was 60 percent contained. Sarah Wheeler, a Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman, confirmed the fire had burned a few hundred acres more while crews contained the final 40 percent of the blaze.

About 80 percent of the charred land belongs to the Idaho National Laboratory, an applied engineering lab supporting the Energy Department's missions in nuclear and energy research, science and national defense.

During the fire, as a precautionary measure, the lab shut down power to the Materials and Fuels Complex, a nuclear research center, Wheeler said.

That power has since been restored, she said. 

NRC proposes new rules for test reactors

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is proposing a rule formalizing requirements for U.S. research and test reactors (RTR) to perform fingerprint-based background checks on staff with unescorted access to their facilities.

The proposal would implement requirements of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, making permanent measures now imposed by NRC Orders issued in 2007.

RTR licensees must ensure that people who are allowed unescorted access to the facilities, or people who request such access, are fingerprinted and undergo a criminal history check by the FBI. The proposed rule in many ways parallels existing access authorization rules for commercial power reactors, such as allowing facilities to recognize checks done by other RTRs. The proposed rule also makes clear that individuals already holding unescorted access to an RTR retain their clearances and do not immediately require a new background check. 

KEPCO-KHNP merger on hold

South Korea's state-run nuclear energy company will remain an independent entity despite its potential merger with Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), a government minister told local members of the press.

Knowledge Economy Minister Choi Kyung-hwan told reporters that last week's Korea Development Institute report made it clear that while a KEPCO-Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) merger is an option, there are complications that make such a move unlikely.

KEPCO, the country's sole electric power service provider, manages all negotiations to sell the country's nuclear reactors, although the bulk of the manpower and technology is provided by KHNP.

One news report said: “This arrangement has been cited for being inefficient and weakening the country's position in overseas bids.”

The two companies created a joint task force prior to South Korea's successful bid to build four reactors for the United Arab Emirates late last year.

The think tank's report caused demonstrations to erupt in Gyeongju, 371 kilometers southeast of Seoul, which agreed to host the country's intermediate level nuclear waste repository in exchange for KHNP's headquarters being moved to the city because such a move would help fuel the regional economy and help create jobs.

"A merger could pose challenges for the government's credibility and fuel social confrontation," the official said according to the report.

He added that increasing the size of KEPCO with 7,000 more employees from the nuclear company may pose problems in efficiency.