Washington (Platts)--5May2008

Japan Steel Works, the only company in the world that produces heavy
steel forgings for nuclear reactor vessels, has a three-year waiting list,
Dale Klein, chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said last week
at the University of Texas at San Antonio. The line for those forgings is long
and is getting longer, reflecting new interest in nuclear power, he said.

Klein, whose May 1 speech at the North American Energy Summit was
released today by NRC, said he believes other manufacturers will eventually
revive the capabilities they once had to manufacture those components.

One potential driver in the renewed interest in nuclear power is the
growing demand for electricity. According to the US Department of Energy,
power demand is expected to increase significantly during the next several
years, Klein said. In the US alone, the demand is expected to jump 50%
in the next 30 years, he said.

He said he believes it is "significant" that there is a line for
heavy forgings in the first place. Companies standing in line "have done
extremely careful calculations to determine if the wait is worthwhile.
Evidently, they have decided it is," Klein said. "Money for new nuclear
reactors is being invested, contracts are being signed, and license
applications are being submitted," he said.

Still, there are some challenges. "[T]here were concerns expressed by
some people that our agency would not be able to handle the extra workload of
reviewing a wave of license applications; not to mention reviewing
applications for new uranium mining and processing facilities, as well as
license renewals and power uprates for existing plants," Klein said. "And the
truth is, it has not been easy. But we are doing it."

The agency used to hire 30 to 50 new employees year, he said. Now the
number of NRC employees has a net increase of about 200 people per year over a
three-year period, Klein said. "Most significantly," he said, "we created an
Office of New Reactors that now has a staff of over 400 people."

--Elaine Hiruo, elaine_hiruo@platts.com