PWR

British Energy Sizewell B2 nuclear plant off line

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

LONDON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - The B2 turbine at British Energy's Sizewell nuclear power plant was offline on Monday morning, a website operated by the National Grid showed.

The unit in southeast England has capacity of 594 MW.

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IAEA mission inspects Kozloduy NPP

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

An expert mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has started in the Bulgarian NPP Kozloduy. The mission has been invited by the Agency for Nuclear Regulation and by the government following a request of the NPP, to assess the fulfillment of the program for upgrading of its Russian VVER 1000 reactors. The program has been implemented stage-by-stage during repair works in 2002 and 2007.

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EDF reaffirms EPR reactor will start in 2012

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

PARIS, Nov 12 (Reuters) - France's EDF plans to start the new-generation EPR reactor under construction at the Flamanville nuclear site in northwest France in 2012, and not in 2013 as stated by Areva earlier, EDF said on Wednesday.

"EDF confirms the European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) will start in 2012," EDF said in a statement.

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Finland's symbol of resurrection becomes showcase for hassles, delays and cost-overruns

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Finland's Olkiluoto power station was meant to symbolise the resurrection of nuclear power after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and to act as a showcase for Areva of France's new EPR reactor technology.

The first nuclear power station to be built in western Europe since Chernobyl, Olkiluoto 3 would demonstrate that nuclear energy was the obvious solution to growing concerns about CO2 emissions, high fossil fuel prices and dependence on imported energy sources.

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Ecologists Slam Nuclear Power Plant

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

As work started on LAES-2, a complex of six power station units with VVER-1200 reactors that is due to complement the existing four 4 RBMK-1000 units of Leningrad Nuclear Power Station (LAES), environmentalists began a protest campaign against what they call an illegitimate and potentially hazardous construction.

The project’s estimated cost is $10 billion.

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Areva's Flamanville nuclear reactor supply chain 'needs oversight'

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

28 October 2008 - Areva has been told to monitor its subcontractors more closely after it was discovered that one had supplied a pressure system part without properly following testing procedures.

World Nuclear News reported that the parts in question are to be used to form the pressurizer of the water-cooled reactor under construction at Flamanville. The pressurizer is a main component of the reactor's primary coolant loop and as such has important safety role in addition to its function in the operation of the reactor.

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Britain's family uranium is safe in French hands

Monday, September 29, 2008

Vincent de Rivaz, the chief executive of France's EDF Energy, which is now in control of the UK's nuclear energy programme, doesn't laugh when I ask if he has succeeded where Napoleon failed.

"It's not a war," he says, very seriously. "This is an amicable agreement between two companies which will bring good news to everyone involved. Will it bring stability to customers for electricity bills? Yes. Will it bring new jobs? Yes. Will it improve climate change? Yes."

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E.ON sizes up new nuclear at Oldbury

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

E.ON UK has entered into a transmission connection agreement with National Grid for up to 1600MWe of new capacity at Oldbury.

The Oldbury-on-Severn site named in the agreement is owned by National Grid and is the location of a substation. The site is adjacent to the Oldbury nuclear power station, which is owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and has two 225MWe Magnox units that are due to cease operation at the end of this year.

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Finnish Nuclear Agency Finds Some Flaws in Olkiluoto Safety

Friday, August 29, 2008

Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Finland's Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority said today the supervision and ''safety culture'' of welding at the Olkiluoto-3 nuclear plant did not meet all of its standards and must be improved.

The agency, known as STUK, demanded changes after inspecting the site and interviewing workers this week, according to a statement posted on its Web site. The regulator said it found no quality problems that threaten the durability of the welds.

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Areva faces 50 pct cost rise for Finnish nuclear reactor: report

Thursday, August 28, 2008

PARIS (AFP) — French nuclear group Areva is facing a 50 percent rise to the cost of building the world's first next-generation pressurised water reactor in Finland, the business daily Les Echos reported Thursday.

The cost of constructing the plant at Olkiluoto has risen from three billion to 4.5 billion euros (6.7 billion dollars), the paper reported citing an unidentified source.

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