Who better than the LES puzzle then explain Jim Ferland? As president of Louisiana Energy Services, Ferland came on board nearly three years ago. At the time, the LES project was still in Tennessee, but quickly losing traction. Ferland admits the situation had gotten so bad in Tennessee that his management team had to look elsewhere.
First, we wanted to clarify exactly who is the owner of LES. Conflicting news, found in the news after LES was awarded the first NRC license for a nuclear facility in almost thirty years, confused us. Ferland straightened us at this point, too. "LES is incorporated in Delaware. It is a limited partnership. I'll give you a quick overview of the property. It's confusing." Six months ago, Westinghouse Electric owned 24.5 percent of the LES. British Nuclear Fuels, which owns a one-third stake in Urenco, Westinghouse property. On 3 March this year, Urenco bought Westinghouse's minority interest in LES.
Wait, it gets even more confusing. "Back in the original LES, which was back in Louisiana in the early 1990s, the utilities had an equity share in that time," Ferland explained. "When the Urenco the backup, project grabbed for it again in 2002, the utilities tagged along. The utilities, though, does not have an equity ownership share." According Ferland, Urenco bought the three U.S. utilities - Entergy, Exelon and Duke - go in exchange for some money and more cash advance. "The only thing that happens is the tool deserves the rest of their money back if LES meets certain milestones going forward," said Ferland. "One of the milestones was (realized) the day LES received the NRC license. Since 2002 these three programs did not manage to say and no equity participation. They just had some rights to future cash flows, depending on whether LES was successful or not. Essentially, we pay the utilities return for the investment they put into the early 1990s. "
The result is simple. Louisiana Energy Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of Urenco Ltd. But again, get ready for a tad more confusion about the ownership. Issue
Urenco's UK partner wants to sell. His third interest in the company We asked if perhaps Ferland British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) was unhappy with the New Mexico enrichment facility. "I do not think so," he replied. "This is my personal opinion, because I'm certainly not a member of the management of BNFL. BNFL is looking to get out of nuclear activities entirely. Recognize that BNFL is a government-owned entity. I think the government has decided that they do not need to be in the nuclear business. They have done many things. They are in the process of closing the transaction of sale of Westinghouse. Their nuclear decommissioning group is offered for sale. The last major piece of BNFL nuclear industry is one-third owned by them in Urenco. course, given that they have the sales of the other two, they divest any interest owned piece too. "
Who will ultimately have BNFL, and thus a third owner of Urenco an owner of the New Mexico enrichment facility become, and indirectly? Last week, the London Daily Telegraph reported the French nuclear firm, EDF, BNFL had offered to buy the game for about £ sterling 2000000000. EDF spokesman denied an offer had done. According to Reuters, would both German and Dutch stakeholders oppose participation of EDF.
This latest wrinkle is just one in another of several disturbing episodes as LES moves forward in operations. We spoke with Ferland about the cost of environmental racism in Louisiana, where her long journey LES first began to obtain. An NRC license As with every question and concern we expressed Ferland not hesitate or back down, but instead methodically answered, "Urenco and its partners begin the permitting process for LES around 1990. Bowl in 1997, they still lack the NRC license . Seven years pursuing a license is a long time. There were a variety of topics. One of them was environmental justice. "
Ferland had not yet arrived at the time, but he had studied the cost. "Here's my take on why they took so long," he began. "Environmental justice, at that time, was a relatively new concept. There were not many rules or regulations in place on how to accept or environmental racism was not going on. They spent a long time arguing back and forth about how to make that decision. How do you do those calculations? "
So what happened? "It is my understanding, at the end of it all, was to be in the clear on that particular subject. LES found" Why did it take so long and why the unusual accusation? "I think it was," Ferland began, but paused. "Anti-nuclear opponents will do what they can to slow the permitting process. It was a successful attempt by the anti-nuclear people to put huge delay in the authorization process to the point where the owner finally walked away."
Finally, how did Louisiana Energy Services end up in New Mexico? Abandoning the project in Louisiana, the company moved to Tennessee. Some report the locals chased LES from the state. Ferland surprised us with his answer, "LES never submitted the license application for the NRC."
But what is the real story here? "I will be very blunt about it," Ferland warned us. "The management had lost credibility with the local population in Tennessee. A company like ours doing a project like this, even though it is extremely safe and extremely environmentally friendly, it is a nuclear project." And this is advice to anyone hoping to cash in on the nuclear renaissance, "And if you do not have the credibility and the trust of the public, in all honesty, you can not continue with the project." Ferland cleared the air, "Management had some problems in the way they the public and the press in Tennessee which lose their credibility, and probably rightly to be addressed." The situation was so bad gone, Ferland, "We could not turn that around."
Based on our interviews with state senators and representatives, New Mexico's response was magical compared to what LES endured for the past 16 years. "Marshall Cohen and his team did a very good job in New Mexico," explained Ferland. "We have, as it is done well to sell. Relatively good project we take people to the operational enrichment facility in Europe, where we are seeing being copied." LES did exactly that. We interviewed New Mexico State Senators Leavell and Kernan, who both gave their blessing Urenco Almelo facility. "It is ultra clean, ultra high tech and has a very good environmental record for as long as it has been in existence, which is 25-plus years." Ferland said with steel in his voice, "If you do it right, it is to sell a fairly simple project and if you do it wrong, you can quickly drive it into the ditch."
CONCLUSION
The LES project went along the "selling phase." Groundbreaking is in late August. Ferland told us the construction began this past week. LES will Lea County, New Mexico and Andrews County, Texas with more that 800 construction jobs to build the National Enrichment Facility (NEF). "We expect the first cascade to go online in late 2008," said Ferland. Because this is a modular design, more cascades will go online by 2013, when the plant is at full strength.
"We hope to be delivered in early 2009, our first product," he added. This will be a relatively small amount. "Marge, we come up with roughly 20 percent of our output per year," explained Ferland. This comes to about 600,000 SWU (separative work units).
It takes about 10 pounds of U3O8, which provide tools for the enrichment facility, to create a SWU. "It's a 3 million SWU facility," Ferland told us. Three million SWU is about 25 percent of U.S. demand, he added.
From all indications, it Ferland runs a tight ship. Urenco seems to be behind this persistent but sober corporate executive firmly. He knows how to run this business he built his team, and they have created a miracle in New Mexico - the first step in the Nuclear Renaissance New Mexico.
COPYRIGHT © 2007 by StockInterview, Inc. All rights reserved.
First, we wanted to clarify exactly who is the owner of LES. Conflicting news, found in the news after LES was awarded the first NRC license for a nuclear facility in almost thirty years, confused us. Ferland straightened us at this point, too. "LES is incorporated in Delaware. It is a limited partnership. I'll give you a quick overview of the property. It's confusing." Six months ago, Westinghouse Electric owned 24.5 percent of the LES. British Nuclear Fuels, which owns a one-third stake in Urenco, Westinghouse property. On 3 March this year, Urenco bought Westinghouse's minority interest in LES.
Wait, it gets even more confusing. "Back in the original LES, which was back in Louisiana in the early 1990s, the utilities had an equity share in that time," Ferland explained. "When the Urenco the backup, project grabbed for it again in 2002, the utilities tagged along. The utilities, though, does not have an equity ownership share." According Ferland, Urenco bought the three U.S. utilities - Entergy, Exelon and Duke - go in exchange for some money and more cash advance. "The only thing that happens is the tool deserves the rest of their money back if LES meets certain milestones going forward," said Ferland. "One of the milestones was (realized) the day LES received the NRC license. Since 2002 these three programs did not manage to say and no equity participation. They just had some rights to future cash flows, depending on whether LES was successful or not. Essentially, we pay the utilities return for the investment they put into the early 1990s. "
The result is simple. Louisiana Energy Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of Urenco Ltd. But again, get ready for a tad more confusion about the ownership. Issue
Urenco's UK partner wants to sell. His third interest in the company We asked if perhaps Ferland British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) was unhappy with the New Mexico enrichment facility. "I do not think so," he replied. "This is my personal opinion, because I'm certainly not a member of the management of BNFL. BNFL is looking to get out of nuclear activities entirely. Recognize that BNFL is a government-owned entity. I think the government has decided that they do not need to be in the nuclear business. They have done many things. They are in the process of closing the transaction of sale of Westinghouse. Their nuclear decommissioning group is offered for sale. The last major piece of BNFL nuclear industry is one-third owned by them in Urenco. course, given that they have the sales of the other two, they divest any interest owned piece too. "
Who will ultimately have BNFL, and thus a third owner of Urenco an owner of the New Mexico enrichment facility become, and indirectly? Last week, the London Daily Telegraph reported the French nuclear firm, EDF, BNFL had offered to buy the game for about £ sterling 2000000000. EDF spokesman denied an offer had done. According to Reuters, would both German and Dutch stakeholders oppose participation of EDF.
This latest wrinkle is just one in another of several disturbing episodes as LES moves forward in operations. We spoke with Ferland about the cost of environmental racism in Louisiana, where her long journey LES first began to obtain. An NRC license As with every question and concern we expressed Ferland not hesitate or back down, but instead methodically answered, "Urenco and its partners begin the permitting process for LES around 1990. Bowl in 1997, they still lack the NRC license . Seven years pursuing a license is a long time. There were a variety of topics. One of them was environmental justice. "
Ferland had not yet arrived at the time, but he had studied the cost. "Here's my take on why they took so long," he began. "Environmental justice, at that time, was a relatively new concept. There were not many rules or regulations in place on how to accept or environmental racism was not going on. They spent a long time arguing back and forth about how to make that decision. How do you do those calculations? "
So what happened? "It is my understanding, at the end of it all, was to be in the clear on that particular subject. LES found" Why did it take so long and why the unusual accusation? "I think it was," Ferland began, but paused. "Anti-nuclear opponents will do what they can to slow the permitting process. It was a successful attempt by the anti-nuclear people to put huge delay in the authorization process to the point where the owner finally walked away."
Finally, how did Louisiana Energy Services end up in New Mexico? Abandoning the project in Louisiana, the company moved to Tennessee. Some report the locals chased LES from the state. Ferland surprised us with his answer, "LES never submitted the license application for the NRC."
But what is the real story here? "I will be very blunt about it," Ferland warned us. "The management had lost credibility with the local population in Tennessee. A company like ours doing a project like this, even though it is extremely safe and extremely environmentally friendly, it is a nuclear project." And this is advice to anyone hoping to cash in on the nuclear renaissance, "And if you do not have the credibility and the trust of the public, in all honesty, you can not continue with the project." Ferland cleared the air, "Management had some problems in the way they the public and the press in Tennessee which lose their credibility, and probably rightly to be addressed." The situation was so bad gone, Ferland, "We could not turn that around."
Based on our interviews with state senators and representatives, New Mexico's response was magical compared to what LES endured for the past 16 years. "Marshall Cohen and his team did a very good job in New Mexico," explained Ferland. "We have, as it is done well to sell. Relatively good project we take people to the operational enrichment facility in Europe, where we are seeing being copied." LES did exactly that. We interviewed New Mexico State Senators Leavell and Kernan, who both gave their blessing Urenco Almelo facility. "It is ultra clean, ultra high tech and has a very good environmental record for as long as it has been in existence, which is 25-plus years." Ferland said with steel in his voice, "If you do it right, it is to sell a fairly simple project and if you do it wrong, you can quickly drive it into the ditch."
CONCLUSION
The LES project went along the "selling phase." Groundbreaking is in late August. Ferland told us the construction began this past week. LES will Lea County, New Mexico and Andrews County, Texas with more that 800 construction jobs to build the National Enrichment Facility (NEF). "We expect the first cascade to go online in late 2008," said Ferland. Because this is a modular design, more cascades will go online by 2013, when the plant is at full strength.
"We hope to be delivered in early 2009, our first product," he added. This will be a relatively small amount. "Marge, we come up with roughly 20 percent of our output per year," explained Ferland. This comes to about 600,000 SWU (separative work units).
It takes about 10 pounds of U3O8, which provide tools for the enrichment facility, to create a SWU. "It's a 3 million SWU facility," Ferland told us. Three million SWU is about 25 percent of U.S. demand, he added.
From all indications, it Ferland runs a tight ship. Urenco seems to be behind this persistent but sober corporate executive firmly. He knows how to run this business he built his team, and they have created a miracle in New Mexico - the first step in the Nuclear Renaissance New Mexico.
COPYRIGHT © 2007 by StockInterview, Inc. All rights reserved.
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