BERLIN, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Germany plans to set up a fund to ringfence 17 billion ($21.2 billion) euros nuclear power firms have set aside to cover the long-term costs of decommissioning plants, Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported on Wednesday.
There has been concern in Germany that taxpayers could foot part of the bill to shut the plants because the money put aside by the firms to cover decommissioning costs could be lost in the event of a bankruptcy, or used for something else.
Lithuania's prime minister says ending support in 2020 could delay the full closure of its Ignalina plant.
Leaders of the European Union's member states are expected at their summit next week (7-8 February) to agree to cover roughly half the costs of decommissioning Soviet-era nuclear power plants, as part of a deal on the EU's long-term budget.
The nuclear plan decided to shut down ahead of new taxes included in a government energy reform that would render the plant unviable.
Spain's oldest nuclear plant Garoña is shutting down on Sunday ahead of new taxes included in a government energy reform that would render the plant unviable.
Germany's grid regulator Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA) said Wednesday that it has decided against keeping one idled nuclear reactor on standby as reserve capacity for the coming two winter seasons to ensure power grid stability after the government permanently closed eight older reactors in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in March.
"Our investigations have shown that even in exceptional contingencies the transmission system will remain operational without the dispatch of a reserve nuclear power plant," BNetzA President Matthias Kurth said in a statement.
The Mox nuclear fuel plant at Sellafield was closed on Wednesday, with the loss of around 600 jobs.
The closure is a consequence of the Fukushima incident in Japan in March, which has closed down much of the nuclear industry there and led to a rethink of nuclear power around the world. But the government said the move had "no implications" for the UK's plans for new nuclear reactors.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two of Russia's plutonium-producing reactors may be closed six months ahead of schedule this summer, a major milestone in U.S. nuclear nonproliferation efforts, a senior Energy Department official said Friday.
The official said Sergey Kiriyenko, the director of Russia's nuclear agency, Rosatom, told Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman during a 40-minute meeting Friday that shutting down the two reactors in the Siberian town of Seversk so soon was "realistic."
SOFIA, Bulgaria: Plagued by electricity shortages, Bulgaria on Wednesday announced it was considering plans to reopen nuclear reactors it had to shut down before joining the European Union a year ago.
The two Russian-made units at Bulgaria's only nuclear plant, Kozlodui, were switched off just hours before the Balkan country joined the European Union on Jan. 1, 2007.
Sweden's Liberal Party, a member of the country's ruling coalition, has called for the country to build four new reactors in its preliminary climate strategy.
The thaw between Poland and Brussels has sent a chill down spines in Lithuania.
Donald Tusk, the new Polish premier, arrived at the European Commission and parliament on Tuesday to show that his country was back in the centre of Europe. The era of the Kaczynskis, “the terrible twins”, picking fights with Brussels, was over.
The fear in Vilnius is that he may stop picking fights with Russia, too, leaving the Baltic republics, which only recently threw off the Soviet yoke, alone in the ring with the bear. Talks on resolving the Russian blockade of Polish meat, which in turn have held up a new EU-Russia partnership agreement to Brussels' ill-concealed annoyance, start next week.
Nov 06, 2007
In cooperation with BNS
RIGA -- The Latvian government has endorsed an agreement to send used nuclear fuel from the decommissioned Salaspils nuclear research facility to Russia.
The Environment Ministry proposal was given the green light at a government meeting on Nov. 6, meaning that a full agreement with russia can go ahead next week.
