![](media/image1.jpeg){width="8.5in"
height="3.5027777777777778in"}**U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY**

**Office of Energy Assurance**

**ENERGY ASSURANCE DAILY**

**January 12, 2004**

**Electricity**

**Exelon\'s Ill. Byron 1 Nuke Increasing Power**

Exelon Nuclear\'s 1,105 megawatt Byron 1 nuclear unit in Illinois was
increasing power on Monday after scheduled repair work on the weekend, a
plant spokeswoman said. The unit was reduced late Saturday to 25 percent
power to repair feedwater and steam valves and was running early Monday
at 70 percent power, the spokeswoman said. She declined to say when
Byron 1 would likely return to full power production.

Meanwhile, the adjacent 1,105 MW Unit 2 continued to run at full power.

<http://biz.yahoo.com/rm/040112/utilities_exelon_byron_2.html>

**Constellation\'s N.Y. Nine Mile 1 Nuke Shut (Update)**\
Constellation Energy Group Inc. shut the 565 megawatt Nine Mile Point 1
nuclear unit in New York for work, the company told the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission today. The company found a problem with the main
steam isolation valve (degraded operator gear housing) that required the
shudown.

<http://biz.yahoo.com/rm/040112/utilities_constellation_ninemile_1.html>

# Duke\'s S.C. Oconee 1 Nuke Exits Outage

Duke Energy Corp.\'s 846 megawatt Oconee 1 nuclear unit in South
Carolina exited an outage that began on Friday after a circulation leak
was discovered within a steam generator in the containment vessel. The
plant ramped up to 73 percent of capacity by early Monday, according to
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The adjacent 846 MW units 2 and 3
continued to operate at full power.

Reuters 07:15 12Jan2004

**Sequoyah 2 Nuke Cuts Power After Leak Discovered**

Tennessee Valley Authority reduced power to 48 percent on Friday after
discovering a hydrogen leak in a generator at its Sequoyah 2 nuclear
unit. The 1,183 megawatt unit is located in Tennessee.

Bloomberg Jan 9, 2004

**PSEG Nuke Unit Still Experiencing Problems**

PSEG 1,150 megawatt Salem 1 had its power reduced to 82 percent on
Friday as operators continued to clear away debris including marsh grass
from a water intake channel.

Bloomberg 9 Jan 2004

**Utilities Leery of Mandatory Reliability Rules**

A push by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to create
mandatory reliability rules is sending a shutter through the power
industry, long accustomed to self-regulation in that area. Utilities
feel that they should take the lead in setting electricity grid
reliability standards rather than FERC. FERC Chairman Pat Wood said the
agency is preparing to unveil new rules that would require utilities to
disclose when they violate voluntary rules set by the North American
Electric Reliability Council. The agency could go further and set other
mandatory reliability standards to prevent a repeat of the August 2003
blackout that left 50 million people without power, Wood said. The
Edison Electric Institute, the biggest U.S. utility lobbying group, said
that industry rather than FERC should play the primary role.

Wall Street Journal 12 Jan 2004

Reuters Friday January 9, 5:49 pm

**Ohio To Be Site Of \$1.5B Uranium Enrichment Plant (Update)**

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)\--Ohio has been chosen over Kentucky for a \$1.5
billion plant that will use updated technology to enrich uranium for
power plant reactors, the company building the plant announced Monday.
The facility at the shuttered Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in
Piketon, which previously had been used for uranium processing, will
employ 500 and will be operating by the end of the decade, USEC Inc.
(USU) President Nick Timbers said.

[http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20040112_004674,00.html?mod=elc%2Dgas%2Dwat](http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20040112_004674,00.html?mod=elc-gas-wat)

**Petroleum**

State of New York issues extension in driver waiver hours from January 9
-- 16 due to adverse weather conditions resulting in an increase in
demand for heating oil.

**Natural Gas**

# Williams Shuts Down Portion of Gas Pipeline

Williams Northwest Pipeline has begun shutting down a major natural gas
pipeline in Western Washington in response to an order from the federal
Office of Pipeline Safety. The 26-inch line that travels 268 miles from
Sumas to Washougal ruptured twice last year, the second time despite a
reduction in pressure that should have prevented another blowout.
Constructed back in 1956, the line has failed nine times in the past
decade, due in part to corrosion caused by the West Side\'s perpetually
moist soils. The West Side shutdown is not particularly remarkable. What
makes this action unusual was weight given state of Washington
recommendations before OPS acted. With the federal government under the
allegedly conservative Bush administration so eager to usurp state
authority in everything from education to utility regulation, a shift of
responsibility to Olympia from Washington, D.C., is welcome.

Energy Central Professional 12 Jan 2004

**Other News**

# Nevada looks to court to block nuclear dump

Nevada officials say a federal appeals court hearing this week on a
collection of lawsuits will give the state its best chance to block the
government\'s plans to entomb nuclear-reactor waste under a mountain 90
miles outside Las Vegas. \"Part of our strategy has always been the
court,\" said U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, a leader of the
state\'s fight against the Yucca Mountain project. Mr. Reid said he
hopes that the three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia will \"kill it, change direction or slow it down.\"
For 25 years, the state has lacked the political clout to stop the Yucca
Mountain project, failing in Congress and with the White House.

<http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040112-123602-9971r.htm>

Reuters 12 Jan 2004

**Energy Prices**

+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
|                               | **Latest  | **Week    | **Year     |
|                               | (1        | Ago**     | Ago**      |
|                               | /12/04)** |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| **CRUDE OIL**                 | 34.32     | 33.77     | 31.68      |
|                               |           |           |            |
| **West Texas Intermediate     |           |           |            |
| US**                          |           |           |            |
|                               |           |           |            |
| \$/Barrel                     |           |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| **NATURAL GAS**               | 7.00      | 6.33      | 5.17       |
|                               |           |           |            |
| **Henry Hub**                 |           |           |            |
|                               |           |           |            |
| \$/Million Btu                |           |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+

> Source: Reuters, Wall Street Journal

**This Week in Petroleum** from the Energy Information Administration
(EIA)

[*http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/twip/twip.asp*](http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/twip/twip.asp)

Last Updated on January 7, 2004

**Weekly Petroleum Status Report** from EIA**\
**[*http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/weekly_petroleum_status_report/wpsr.html*](http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/weekly_petroleum_status_report/wpsr.html)

Updated after 1:00pm (Eastern time) on Wednesdays

**Natural Gas Weekly Update** from EIA

[*http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/ngw/ngupdate.asp*](http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/ngw/ngupdate.asp)

Last Updated on January 8, 2004