Europe

French Greenpeace activists break into nuclear power plant

Monday, July 15, 2013

More than 20 Greenpeace activists climbed fences to break into an EDF nuclear power plant in southern France and demanded its closure, the environmental campaign group has said.

The activists, dressed in red, broke into the Tricastin plant at dusk on Sunday and unfurled a yellow and black banner on the wall with the words: "Tricastin, nuclear accident – president of the catastrophe?" above a picture of the president, François Hollande.

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UK business group tells Brussels: Let us have our nuclear renaissance

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

The EU should stop "skewing" Europe’s energy market in favour of renewables and allow the UK to build a £14 billion nuclear reactor at Hinkley C, the deputy director-general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has told EurActiv.
“We would hope that the European Commission would see nuclear as being a core part of our energy mix,” said Neil Bentley. “We have to start somewhere and Hinkley C is exactly the right place.”

“Let us get on with it,” he said.

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Russian-backed nuclear plant "more than hypothetical"

Thursday, June 27, 2013

MOSCOW -- The prospects for cooperation between Serbia and Russia are better than ever, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivan Mrkić said ahead of his visit to Russia.

“We created the prerequisites for the closest possible cooperation between our two countries and peoples. Our presidents - Putin and Nikolić - have recently signed the declaration on strategic partnership, Serbia has quite high trade with the Russian Federation, and our economy is linked to the Russian market,” Mrkić told Itar-Tass.

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New nuclear – nearly

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

As the FT reported on Friday, negotiations on the terms for new nuclear have advanced and there is increasing optimism that a deal can be done. The meeting between David Cameron and Francois Hollande in Paris two weeks ago amounted to a declaration of agreement in principle. Just three issues remain to be resolved.

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Enel Says Slovak Project at Risk as Expansion Costs Rise

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Enel SpA’s nuclear power plant expansion in Slovakia is at risk unless the east European country’s government “quickly” approves a plan to increase financing for the project, the company’s Slovak unit said.

Works at two additional reactors at the Mochovce site operated by Enel’s Slovenske Elektrarne AS may be halted unless its owners agree to boost spending by 800 million euros ($1.03 billion), Jana Burdova, a spokeswoman for the company, in which Enel has 66 percent, said in an e-mailed statement today. The project’s “complexity and a need to meet the latest safety standards” boosted building costs.

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Shale, coal price splits Czech government on nuclear project

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

A project costed in billions of euros to expand a Czech nuclear plant has been undermined by the effects on energy prices of the shale gas revolution in North America, and is splitting the government.

Several politicians are echoing experts who say that the tender process for the huge contract should be delayed or abandoned.

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EDF blames seaweed after halting nuclear reactors

Saturday, May 25, 2013

EDF Energy has been forced to halt both reactors at its 1,280 megawatt (MW) Torness nuclear plant near Edinburgh after a rising tide of seaweed threatened to clog its cooling system.

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Burning ship had tonnes of radioactive material

Thursday, May 16, 2013

After a freighter went up in flames at the start of the month while carrying radioactive material into Hamburg's harbour, it has emerged that the German port city receives such hazardous cargo up to seven times a month.

Fire fighters said they had only narrowly been able to prevent a catastrophe on May 1st when the freighter "Atlantic Cartier" caught fire - complete with its radioactive load.

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Centrica stokes energy fears by revealing EDF nuclear timescale has doubled

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Centrica has ratcheted up fears over Britain’s energy security by warning that its rival EDF will take twice as long as originally planned to build the first of a new generation of nuclear power stations.

The British Gas owner abandoned its 20pc stake in the £14bn project at Hinkley Point in February, opting instead to give £500m back to shareholders and invest in gas in North America.

Sir Roger Carr, Centrica chairman, told its AGM on Monday that since it first considered the project the price had “rocketed hugely”, adding: “Nuclear is not a cheap option.”

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EDF Energy chief ready to quit if Hinkley Point deal collapses

Monday, May 6, 2013

The chief executive of EDF Energy will leave Britain if the French company's £14 billion Hinkley Point reactor project collapses.

Vincent de Rivaz, the longest-serving boss of Britain's Big Six energy companies, has staked his credibility on getting the plan to build Britain's first new reactors for decades off the ground.

However, the chances of the project going ahead are receding, with EDF Energy and the Government in a stand-off over the level of subsidies - funded by levies on consumers' bills - that the company will receive.

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