Nuclear power in Europe

Government plans for a new generation of nuclear power stations risk delays after warnings by its own inspectors that no decision can be made on reactor designs because of a shortage of skilled engineers.

Delays in receiving documentation from various parties and the difficulties of talking to overseas regulators and receiving final reactor designs are referred to in a letter from Mike Weightman, chief inspector at the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII), to the Department for Business Enterpriseand Regulatory Reform.

* Developing countries that have expressed interest in French nuclear power technology can't implement it anytime soon.
* A French-led global nuclear power renaissance is problematic, since the country's nonproliferation record is poor.
* French nuclear reactors aren't as safe as its promoters claim.
* Nuclear power provides only a small portion of total French energy consumption.

France’s nuclear safety watchdog has ordered EDF to halt work temporarily at its flagship new generation nuclear power station after finding that the French electricity giant had failed to address deficiencies in quality controls.

The Nuclear Safety Authority, charged with inspecting France’s 59 reactors, said on Tuesday that it had detected anomalies in the reinforcement of concrete for the 1,600MW EPR reactor being built at Flamanville in northern France.

EDF, the French utility, could face a legal challenge over the technology it has decided to use in building Britain’s latest generation of power stations.

EDF announced last May that it planned to employ Areva, the French nuclear energy group, but its decision, which was made without giving rival reactor manufacturers an opportunity to bid for the contract, could be illegal under European law, according to Ros Kellaway, partner and head of EU competition law in Eversheds.