Companies

RWE expects to build 3 to 5 n.power plants-paper

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

FRANKFURT, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Germany's RWE, the country's largest power producer, expects to build three to five new nuclear power plants with partners in Europe, the company's chief executive told German paper Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

The exact number depends on the partners the company finds for any given projects and the financing, RWE's Chief Executive Juergen Grossmann said in the interview.

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British Energy's Hunterston B7 shutdown unplanned

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

LONDON (Reuters) - British Energy's Hunterston B7 nuclear reactor was shutdown manually late on Tuesday but it is still unclear why the reactor in Scotland needed to be stopped, a spokesman for the company said.

"We are still looking into that," he said on Wednesday.

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Turkey pushes energy projects despite crisis

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

BANDIRMA, Turkey, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Energy import-dependent Turkey is pressing ahead with large energy investments despite global financial woes and ongoing private sector projects will raise capacity to 62,600 megawatts from 40,000 MW.

Turkey, a major energy importer, is under pressure to increase power capacity and liberalise the sector in the face of sharply rising demand, fuelled by economic growth and a rapidly growing population.
However, the shrinking global liquidity and lessening risk appetite generated by the financial crisis has raised concerns about companies' ability to raise the necessary funding and uncertainty surrounds some projects.

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Ukraine to sign nuclear fuel deals with Russia by yearend

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

KOLONTAYEVO (Moscow Region), October 21 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine is set to sign three nuclear fuel deals with Russia by the end of this year, the president of the Ukrainian nuclear power plant operator Energoatom said on Tuesday.

Yuriy Nedashkovskiy said two of the deals involved fuel supplies for Ukrainian nuclear power plants, while the other covers the production and enrichment of nuclear fuel from Ukrainian raw materials.

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Two German nuclear plants to run beyond 09 election

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

FRANKFURT, Oct 20 (Reuters) - German nuclear power plant operators EnBW and RWE confirmed they will keep two reactors running beyond 2009, when a general election might change nuclear policy.

The two companies on Monday confirmed a weekend media report which said the Neckarwestheim 1 and Biblis A installations will run at least well into 2010, although under the nuclear exit law they should have shut next year.

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Spain's 1,000 MW Vandellos II nuclear plant on line

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

MADRID, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Spain's 1,000 megawatt Vandellos II nuclear plant was reconnected to the grid early on Tuesday morning after an absence of nearly two months, technicians said.

"We've been back on line since 4:26 (0226 GMT) and are stepping up power. We need to do tests before reaching full power," said a technician from the plant, which is near to the northeastern port of Tarragona.

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Bulgaria pours 300M leva in Belene nuclear plant

Friday, October 17, 2008

Bulgaria's Cabinet plans to inject 300 million leva into the National Electric Company (NEK) to cover the costs of the transitional stage of building the nuclear power plant at Belene on the Danube River, the Government press service said in a statement.

The cash would be given as an equity hike in NEK, which is now part of the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) that the Cabinet created in September 2009 by integrating Maritza Iztok mines, Maritza Iztok 2 thermal power plant and NEK into the holding structure of gas provider Bulgargaz.

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Stiff opposition to nuclear charge

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Electrabel has reacted strongly against a plan from the Belgian government to force a one-off payment of €250 million ($338 million) from nuclear power generators.

The company's parent group, GdF-Suez has told the Belgian government that it "emphatically protests" a draft of new legislation which requires nuclear operators - and nuclear operators only - to make a "contribution" of €250 million to government coffers for the 2008 financial year.

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Repairs to coal plant are hit by nuclear backlog

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

REPAIRS at British Energy's coal-fired Eggborough power station will be delayed until next year after the company said maintenance of its ageing nuclear power reactors is taking longer than expected.

The nuclear power group, which recently agreed to a £12.5bn marriage with French giant EDF, said maintenance of a unit at Eggborough in North Yorkshire will now happen in the first quarter of next year rather than November.

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Tricastin reactor 2 to be off for several weeks

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

PARIS, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Unplanned works at the 900-megawatt (MW) nuclear reactor 2 at the troubled Tricastin plant in southeast France will take another few weeks, EDF said on Monday.

An incident occurred at the reactor 2 on Sept. 8 during the refuelling of the reactor, when fuel assemblies got stuck in the pressure vessel.

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