The Russian state company on nuclear energy Rosatom this week signed an agreement with the Italian Ministry of Economic Development over the construction of a vessel for transports of spent nuclear fuel from bases on the Kola Peninsula.
According to Rosatom, the vessel will be financed as a whole by the Italian side. The ship, which is to be built by the company Fincantieri is expected to cost 71,5 million EUR.
PARIS (Reuters) - Greenpeace France filed two complaints against nuclear power company Areva over an uranium leak this month that triggered public outrage, as well as older leaks that were later found on the same site.
On July 7, Areva accidentally poured around 18 cubic meters of liquid containing uranium, which was not enriched, onto the ground and into the river at the Tricastin nuclear site, prompting local authorities to launch an official enquiry.
DOLNI ROZINKA, Czech Republic, July 30 (Reuters) - Renewed interest in nuclear power and high uranium prices may extend the life of Czech uranium mines or even reopen closed deposits, said the head of the country's sole, state-owned miner Diamo. The centre-right cabinet of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek gave the ailing industry a boost last year, allowing Diamo to explore uranium reserves at its only remaining mine in Dolni Rozinka, 180 km (113 miles) east of Prague.
HELSINKI, July 30 (Reuters) - A small fire at the construction site for a new nuclear reactor in Olkiluoto, western Finland, spread to two floors of the reactor building, before it was put out, plant operator Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) said on Wednesday.
"A small amount of contruction materials had caught fire," TVO said in a statement, and added the fire was noticed at around 2:00 a.m (2300 GMT) and it was put out four hours later.
CEZ Romania expects the construction of the third and fourth reactors at the Cernavoda nuclear plant to be delayed about one year. On the other hand, CEZ bought in Eastern Romania a wind energy project evaluated at 100 million euro.
"We haven't been invited until now to continue the negotiations for the construction of the two Cernavoda rectors", said the CEZ Development Manager, Doru Voicu, who added that the company also waits for a response from Termoelectrica, in order to establish a partnership and build two thermal plants.
Russia and the European Union will embark on a new round of negotiations to lift hidden quotas on Russia's nuclear exports in September 2008 during the Russia-EU summit, the head of Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, said today. He reiterated that the two sides were currently negotiating a new cooperation agreement. In addition, the EU presidency is currently held by France, Europe's largest nuclear power producer and consumer. It's time to step up talks on the matter, Kiriyenko noted.
ELEKTROSTAL, July 29 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has taken a look at technology of nuclear fuel production for nuclear power plants during his visit to the machine-building plant Elemash on Tuesday.
He was shown the whole technological chain – from production of “nuclear tablets” to heat clusters.
The plant’s director general Oleg Kryukov said “this is wholly our production - design, software and drawings; we buy parts abroad”.
MINSK, July 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russian state nuclear power corporation Rosatom has agreed to take part in a tender for the construction of a nuclear power plant in Belarus, the ex-Soviet republic's energy ministry said Tuesday.
Belarus plans to build a nuclear power plant with a capacity of 2,000 MW, with the first unit to come online in 2016 and the second in 2018. The plant is expected to have Generation III water-moderated reactors.
German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety said Saturday that 122 incidents were subject to reporting at the country's nuclear power plants last year, according to the Munich-based Focus news magazine.
Based on a seven-stage international evaluation scale (INES), 120 incidents were reported on the lowest notifiable category.
French nuclear companies are hoping to play a central role in the government's plan to build a new generation of reactors. At home, however, the industry has been buffeted by a series of mishaps. Angelique Chrisafis reports from Bollène
