Companies

Nuclear regulators in Europe, US to caution against EPR piping

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Nuclear safety authorities in four countries are assessing the significance of undocumented welding on primary circuit piping for the EPR reactor under construction at Olkiluoto-3, Petteri Tiippana, director of the nuclear reactor regulation department at the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority STUK, told Platts in an interview Thursday.

But Tiippana said that contrary to a statement made Wednesday by Marie-Pierre Comets, a commissioner of French nuclear safety authority ASN, regulators from Finland, France, the UK and the US are not preparing a joint statement on the piping qual

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German nuclear talks messy, operators may still gain

Monday, March 8, 2010

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Germany’s nuclear power industry is no closer to knowing how long its plants may operate than five months ago when Chancellor Angela Merkel’s new government assumed power and promised to extend their lives.

Rifts inside her center-right cabinet over the merit of rivalling renewables energies and a local election potentially threatening her party’s leadership of a key state have delayed steps to free the 17 reactors from closure in the coming decade.

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Cernavoda unit stopped because of malfunction

Monday, March 1, 2010

Cernavoda nuclear plant´s unit two was briefly stopped yesterday morning, because of a leak of primary agent within the reactor´s protective building. "No problems were registered in connection with protection of employees, equipment and environment, as the entire security system functioned in line with regulations," Nuclearelectrica, the company which operates the plant, said in a release.

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RWE interested in Dutch nuclear newbuild if new govt revokes ban

Friday, February 26, 2010

German utility RWE has indicated its interest in building a nuclear power plant in the Netherlands should a new government revoke the ban on such projects, RWE CEO Juergen Grossmann said at the company's annual earnings press conference Thursday in Essen.

"We are interested and we are competent," Grossmann said, when asked about the issue by a Dutch journalist.

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Nuclear Does Not Make Economic Sense Say Studies

Monday, February 15, 2010

BERLIN, Feb 12, 2010 (IPS) - The enormous technical and financial risks involved in the construction and operation of new nuclear power plants make them prohibitive for private investors, rebutting the thesis of a renaissance in nuclear energy, say several independent European studies.

The risks include high construction costs, likely long delays in building, extended periods of depreciation of equipment inherent to the construction and operation of new power plants and the lack of guarantees for prices of electricity.

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Nuclear power plant to reduce energy production cost by 20% in Belarus

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

MINSK, 22 January (BelTA) – The construction of the nuclear power plant in Belarus will bring down energy production prime cost by 20%, Deputy Energy Minister of Belarus Mikhail Mikhadyuk said during the online conference on the BelTA website on 22 January.

“The study conducted by the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus revealed that after the nuclear power plant is commissioned the prime cost of electric energy production will be reduced by about 20%, the calculations however did not take into consideration the increase in gas prices. The purchase of natural gas will decrease by 4-5 billion cubic meters,” the Deputy Energy Minister said.

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European nuclear energy academy to open in Germany

Sunday, January 31, 2010

The European Nuclear Energy Leadership Academy (ENELA) is going to open in Germany to attract university graduates to the nuclear energy sector and train future leaders in the field.

The founding treaty of ENELA was signed here on Thursday by six European nuclear energy companies, which are shareholders of the academy.

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Radiation leak at Germany's sole uranium enrichment facility

Sunday, January 24, 2010

An accident at Germany's sole uranium enrichment facility in North Rhine Westphalia has left one worker in hospital under observation.

The incident occurred at the plant in the town of Gronau, when a room in the uranium enrichment facility was accidently exposed to radioactive material. The worker was in the room when the accident occurred, and was taken to the hospital as a precaution. He is expected to be released Friday.

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Albania Approves Atomic Energy Agency

Friday, January 22, 2010

Albania's government approved on Wednesday the creation of the country´s National Atomic Agency, an institution that will supervise of development of nuclear projects.

Earlier Prime Minister Sali Berisha had announced that the government was looking at the possibility of constructing a nuclear power plant.

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Bitter row throws French nuclear industry into turmoil

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

The French nuclear industry is in turmoil as uranium supplies have dried up and the treatment of spent fuel has been blocked amid an increasingly bitter row between the heads of its two main state operators.

EDF, the electricity group that runs 58 reactors in France, said that Areva, the nuclear energy group, had stopped uranium deliveries on January 4 and was refusing to take away spent fuel for reprocessing.

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