By Jakarta correspondent Geoff Thompson
The Howard government made no secret of its support for nuclear power both at home and in the region. Now, one of the country's closest neighbours, Indonesia, is ramping up its own nuclear industry. It is hoping for Australia's continuing technical support - and its uranium. But the threat of earthquakes in Indonesia continues to prompt safety concerns.
By Joshua Boak, Tribune staff reporter, January 6, 2008
Firms jostle to be 1st in line for scarce reactor components - The latest nuclear race involves something other than warheads.
American utilities are moving forward on the next generation of nuclear reactors -- even before they receive government approval to build them.
They know only one company in the world that forges specialized steel containers for a reactor's core. Japan Steel Works already has a three-year backlog, and buyers include Chicago-based Exelon Corp.
London (Platts)--21Jan2008
Russia is offering to loan Bulgaria 3.8 billion Euros (US$5.5 billion) for construction of two 1,000-MW-class reactors at Belene, a spokeswoman for Atomstroyexport, or ASE, said January 18.
By Will Stewart in Moscow
Last Updated: 2:24am GMT 04/01/2008
Russia has admitted that customs officials thwarted more than 120 attempts to smuggle "highly radioactive" material out of the country last year.
The disclosure is likely to fuel concern about how many illegal exports were not halted. It will also lead to new fears that Moscow has failed to stop material becoming available on the black market that could be used by terrorists to make radioactive "dirty" bombs.
MOSCOW (Thomson Financial) - Russia and China will inaugurate an atomic power station in Jiangsu province on December 20, as Moscow steps up construction of such stations worldwide, a top Russian official has said.
The head of Russian atomic power station contractor Atomstroiexport, Sergei Shmatko, told journalists Russia was shaking off the stigma attached to its nuclear industry after the Soviet-era Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986 and was in talks with European and Asian countries.
WASHINGTON (AP) The United States tentatively has agreed to allow limited imports of uranium from Russia, suspending an antidumping investigation that has been in place for decades, according to a filing by the Commerce Department.
The imports, beginning in 2011, would be limited by yearly quotas.
December 04, 2007: 05:55 AM EST
PARIS, Dec. 4, 2007 (Thomson Financial) -- French anti-nuclear group Sortir du Nucleaire said it has mounted a legal challenge to the construction of EDF's Flamanville nuclear reactor and hopes to get work stopped.
EDF said the construction of the 1,650 megawatts EPR European pressurised water reactor, to be supplied by Areva, has started following ground preparation at the site.
08:50 - 03 December 2007
Norwegian environmental group Bellona fears that Gazprom will use nuclear power to provide electricity to the huge Shtokman gas-field project.
The NGO has sought action by Norway's foreign ministry to prevent Gazprom taking the nuclear route.
By Russell Hotten
Daily Telegraph 04 December 2007
Russia has created a vast state-run company that brings together organisations and agencies involved in the country's civil and military nuclear sector, with the aim of overseeing billions of pounds of investment in new power stations and pitching for contracts abroad.
VISAGINAS, Lithuania, Nov 29 (Reuters) - A planned new Lithuanian nuclear plant faces a delay of at least two years to 2017, the head of the country's current sole atomic power facility said on Thursday. Viktor Shevaldin, head of the Ignalina nuclear plant, due to be shut down at the end of 2009 under Lithuania's European Union entry terms, said several uncertainties remained about the planning and eventual construction of a new plant.
