Global Nuclear Energy Partnership News

updated 2/2/07

1/31/07 DoE awards over $10m for GNEP siting studies

The US Department of Energy (DoE) has awarded more than $10
million to 11 commercial and public consortia selected to conduct
detailed siting studies for integrated used fuel recycling
facilities. The consortia have until 30 May to submit their
reports.

President Bush's Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP)
initiative proposes private-public-international partnerships to
develop advanced technologies to recycle used nuclear fuel,
reduce wastes, and avoid misuse of nuclear materials. DoE is
considering a two-track approach to demonstrate technologies
under GNEP. The first track involves deployment of
commercial-scale facilities that may be ready for deployment now
or in the near future. The second track would focus on further
research and development on transmutation fuels technologies.

These facilities will enable us to effectively recycle spent
nuclear fuel in a safe and proliferation-resistant manner. They
will set the technological standard and allow us to influence
energy policy abroad while increasing energy security here at
home, DoE Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Dennis Spurgeon
said. With the negotiations complete, we are ready to proceed
from an initial phase to one where actual studies can explore
sites for GNEP-related facilities.

Award recipients, announced in November 2006, will carry out
siting studies to determine the possibility of hosting the
Consolidated Fuel Treatment Centre (CFTC) and/or an Advanced
Burner Reactor (ABR). Recipients will have until 30 May to
complete detailed site characterization studies of the sites and
submit a Site Characterization Report to DoE.

Of the 11 sites, six are currently owned and operated by DoE.
Information generated from the detailed siting studies of non-DoE
sites is expected to address a variety of site-related matters,
including site and nearby land uses; demographics; ecological and
habitat assessment; threatened or endangered species; historical,
archaeological and cultural resources; geology and seismology;
weather and climate; and regulatory and permitting requirements.
Information requirements for the DoE sites are more limited due
to the availability of previous studies.

SITES, LEAD AWARD RECIPIENTS, AND AWARD AMOUNTS ARE AS FOLLOWS:

Proposed site location Teaming consortia Award amounts

Proposed site location Teaming consortia Award amounts

Atomic City, Idaho Energy Solutions, LLC $915,448

Barnwell , South Carolina Energy Solutions, LLC $963,151

Hanford Site, Washington Tri-City Industrial
Development Council/
Columbia Basin Consulting
Group $1,020,000

Hobbs , New Mexico Eddy Lea Energy Alliance $1,590,016

Idaho National Laboratory,
Idaho Regional Development
Alliance, Inc $648,745

Morris , Illinois General Electric Co $1,484,875

Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Tennessee Community Reuse
Organization of East
Tennessee $894,704

Paducah Gaseous Diffusion
Plant, Kentucky Paducah Uranium Plant
Asset Utilization, Inc $664,600

Portsmouth Gaseous
Diffusion Plant, Ohio Piketon Initiative for
Nuclear Independence, LLC $673,761

Roswell , New Mexico Energy Solutions, LLC $1,134,522

Savannah River National
Laboratory, South Carolina Economic Development
Partnership of Aiken
and Edgefield Counties $468,420

TOTAL: $10,458,242



Aiken Today: Two local companies receive energy grants

Wed, Jan 31, 2007
By PHILIP LORD Senior writer

Approximately $1.43 million is headed to this region for two
competing companies to develop detailed plans showing how they
propose to create power in the future.

Savannah River National Laboratory, which is partnered with the
Economic Development Partnership of Aiken and Edgefield
counties, and EnergySolutions will each receive a part of the
$10 million in Global Nuclear Energy Partnership grants to allow
for detailed studies of the plant presented.

All told, a total of 11 GNEP proposals will receive funding
under the first phase of the program, which is seeking to
identify integrated spent fuel recycling facilities that will
help to power America by recycling nuclear materials.

SRNL proposes its program to be located at the Savannah River
Site, while EnergySolutions plans to build its proposed plant at
the high-level waste facility in Barnwell County.

"These facilities will enable us to effectively recycle spent
nuclear fuel in a safe and proliferation-resistant manner. They
will set the technological standard and allow us to influence
energy policy abroad while increasing energy security here at
home," DOE Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Dennis
Spurgeon said. "With the negotiations complete, we are ready to
proceed from an initial phase to one where actual studies can
explore sites for GNEP-related facilities."

Award recipients, announced in November, will carry out siting
studies to determine the possibility of hosting an advanced
nuclear fuel recycling center and/or an advanced recycling
reactor, Spurgeon said. Beginning today, recipients will conduct
detailed site characterization studies of the sites which were
proposed in their Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)
responses. Recipients will have 90-days to complete these
studies and submit a Site Characterization Report to DOE on May
30.

Under the figures released by DOE Tuesday, SRNL's project will
receive $468,420 and EnergySolutions will receive $963,151 for
its Barnwell project.

"One of the appeals to the Savannah River Site is so much of the
land is already characterized," said Jack Herrmann, a spokesman
for Washington Government, which is the parent company of
Washington Savannah River Company. "There are a lot of aspects
of our characterization that don't have to be done."

He added, "A lot of the work that the other sites will have to
do with the money has already been done at Savannah River."

Looking at SRS, Herrmann said the existing infrastructure at SRS
makes the site a logical and economical location for
establishing a GNEP project.

"Clearly SRS is an appealing site for the GNEP facilities thanks
to the work our people there have already done to get it in
shape for a variety future missions," said E. Preston Rahe,
president of Washington Group's Energy &Environment business
unit from his office in Aiken.

"A lot is already known about the suitability of the site," Rahe
said. "A lot is already known about the quality of the people
and existing infrastructure there. That's why the total dollars
set aside for the site was lower than the other 10 candidate
sites which are less well understood."

Rahe added, "This is an important project, particularly now that
the nation is turning more and more towards nuclear power as an
energy option. These facilities will help the nation deal with
used nuclear fuel cycle while at the same time reducing the
volume of waste and reduce proliferation concerns. And as a
company that is heavily involved in both government and
commercial nuclear business that's encouraging."

In addition to the Barnwell site, EnergySolutions has received
first phase funding for projects in Roswell, N.M., and Atomic
City, Idaho.

An advanced nuclear fuel recycling center contains facilities
where usable uranium and transuranics are separated from spent
light water reactor fuel then produced into new fuel (or
"transmutation fuel") which then could be reused in an advanced
recycling reactor. This advanced recycling reactor is a fast
reactor that would demonstrate the ability to reuse and consume
materials recovered from spent nuclear fuel, including long-lived
elements that would otherwise be disposed of in a geologic
repository.

Contact Philip Lord at plord@aikenstandard.com

List of award winners:

1. Atomic City, Idaho, EnergySolutions, LLC $915,448
2. Barnwell, EnergySolutions, LLC $963,151
3. Hanford Site, Wash., Tri-City Industrial Development
Council/Columbia Basin Consulting Group $1,020,000
4. Hobbs, N.M., Eddy Lead Energy Alliance $1,590,016
5. Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho, Regional Development
Alliance, Inc $648,745
6. Morris, Ill., General Electric Company $1,484,875
7. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tenn., Community Reuse
Organization of East Tennessee $894,704
8. Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Ky., Paducah Uranium Plant
Asset Utilization, Inc. $664,600
9. Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Ohio, Piketon Initiative
for Nuclear Independence, LLC $673,761
10. Roswell, N.M., EnergySolutions, LLC $1,134,522
11. Savannah River National Laboratory, Economic Development
Partnership of Aiken and Edgefield Counties $468,420

TOTAL: $10,458,242

© 2005 The AikenStandard. All Rights

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ITEM 3 OF 4:

KNDO/KNDU: Hanford Receives Money for GNEP Grant

Tri-Cities, Yakima, WA |

Money Awarded for Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Research

RICHLAND, Wash.- The Hanford site will receive more than $1
million in funding for Global Nuclear Energy Partnership
research.

The Department of Energy is giving TRIDEC and Columbia Basin
Consulting the money to research the site's capability for
expanding into recycling nuclear fuel and possibly adding a
nuclear power plant.

If selected by DOE, it would mean new long-term jobs for the area
after cleanup is finished.

"Hanford at the moment is in a cleanup mode, and that'll last
until 2035 or beyond, and after that there's no new missions for
Hanford, so one of the things we're looking for is new missions.
Global nuclear energy partnership is one of those," said TRIDEC's
Gary Petersen.

The study will take place over the next 90 days.

A public meeting is scheduled for March in Pasco where you can
comment on the issue.

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KNDO/KNDU. All Rights Reserved.

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ITEM 4 OF 4:

WAVE 3 TV: Three months remain for Paducah to prove it is suitable for plant

Louisville, KY

(PADUCAH, Ky.) -- Armed with a $664,600 federal grant, Paducah
leaders have three months to finish a study outlining the
suitability for a 1,000-job nuclear fuel recycling plant planned
by the Department of Energy.

The city wanted $1.2 million for the Global Nuclear Energy
Partnership initiative, but got the second lowest of 11 awards
given nationwide. The awards total almost $10.5 million.
Paducah's share is slightly more than half

Nevertheless, Mayor Bill Paxton said Paducah was treated fairly,
taking note that communities with a long history of DOE plants
generally received lower amounts because many of the details are
already available. Cities without DOE plants have more work to
do, he noted.

Of the 11 sites, six are currently owned and operated by DOE. A
consortium called Eddy Lead Energy Alliance received the highest
award, $1.59 million, for a non-DOE site in Hobbs, N.M.

The $14 billion factory, targeted for near the Paducah Gaseous
Diffusion Plant, would cut up nuclear fuel rods and chemically
treat 2,000 to 3,000 metric tons of spent fuel annually starting
in about 2020.

DOE expects to decide by mid-2008 if and where to build the
plant, which would create about 5,000 construction jobs. Sen.
Jim Bunning, who announced the Paducah award, expressed
confidence in the work of the Paducah Uranium Plant Utilization
Task Force. It is co-chaired by Paxton and Judge-Executive Van
Newberry.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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