GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy and Exelon Nuclear Sign Services Contract

- GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy and Exelon Nuclear Sign Services Contract



Aug 29, 2011

General Electric (NYSE:GE) Hitachi Nuclear Energy announced that it has been awarded a nearly $150 million integrated outage contract by Illinois-based Exelon Nuclear to help ensure the continued, safe performance of the utility's entire fleet of boiling water reactor nuclear power plants in Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The agreement is effective immediately and runs through completion of the spring outage season in 2015. Terms of the contract call for GEH to provide services for assisting with the refuel floor activities and performing the under-vessel and inspection services.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) has a potential upside of 41.8% based on a current price of $15.92 and an average consensus analyst price target of $22.58.

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PPL Corp Says Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant Operating Normally

- PPL Corp Says Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant Operating Normally



Aug 23, 2011

The earthquake felt throughout the mid-Atlantic region has not affected regular operation at PPL Corporation's (NYSE:PPL) Susquehanna nuclear power plant near Berwick, the company announced.

Unit 1 of the plant continues to operate normally at full normal power while unit 2 had previously shut down for maintenance and remains in safe, stable conditions.

PPL is delaying the return of Unit 2 to full power as a precautionary measure.

PPL has declared an "unusual event" as a result of the earthquake. An unusual event is the lowest of four emergency classifications established by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for nuclear power plants.

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Japanese Nuclear Power Plant Disaster Could Cost as much as $246 billion

- Japanese Nuclear Power Plant Disaster Could Cost as much as $246 billion



May 31, 2011

The price tag for the March 11th catastrophe at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant continues to rise and could cost the country between 5.7 and 20 trillion Yen. That's between $70 and $246 billion. That's according to an estimate by a Japanese research institute and reported by the Kyodo News Tuesday. The Japan Center for Economic Research, a private think tank, estimated that scrapping all six reactors at the complex could cost up to 15 trillion Yen, while compensating people evacuated from the area within 20 kilometers of the plant could reach around 630 billion Yen. Further, the government may be forced to buy up all the contaminated land within that 20-kilometer radius, which would cost another 4.3 trillion Yen.

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[Oil and Gas Post] - Japan’s Coal, Gas Demand to Rise After Quake, New Hope Says

Japan’s Coal, Gas Demand to Rise After Quake, New Hope Says

March 22, 2011, 2:07 AM EDT
By Elisabeth Behrmann

(Updates to add closing share price in fourth paragraph.)

March 22 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s coal and natural gas demand is likely to rise after the nation’s biggest earthquake this month knocked out nuclear-powered generators, said New Hope Corp., an Australian coal producer.

“I would expect increased requirements to burn coal and gas over the next few years,” Robert Neale, chief executive officer of the Ispwich, Queensland-based company, said today in a phone interview. Coking coal, in particular, would be needed “because you’ll have at least five or more years of reconstruction, which is going to require steel,” he said.

Japan, which depends on imported fuel for most of its needs, is seeking alternatives to nuclear power after the March 11 quake forced the shutdown of 11 reactors. Five years may be needed to rebuild after the disaster, the World Bank said.

New Hope fell 0.2 percent to A$4.89 at the 4:10 p.m. close in Sydney trading. Shares in the company have risen 0.8 percent this year, compared with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index’s 2.2 percent fall.

New Hope reported first-half profit of A$407 million ($409 million), a rise of more than fourfold following the sale of the company’s stake in Arrow Energy Ltd. The company has a cash balance of about A$1.6 billion following the A$238 million acquisition of Northern Energy Ltd., Neale said.

Demand for coal will rise to make up for the lost nuclear capacity because it’s cheaper than oil and gas, and also due to negative public sentiment toward nuclear power, Andrew Harrington, an analyst Patersons Securities Ltd., said in a report. “We believe that the negativity surrounding nuclear energy will see increased demand for fossil fuels including and especially coal.”

Coal producers likely to benefit from increased demand include Gloucester Coal Ltd., New Hope, Whitehaven Coal Ltd. as well as developers Aston Resources Ltd., Cockatoo Coal Ltd. and Riversdale Mining Ltd., said Harrington.

--Editors: Keith Gosman, Andrew Hobbs
To contact the reporter on this story: Elisabeth Behrmann in Sydney at ebehrmann1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Hobbs at ahobbs4@bloomberg.net

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