Climate change is an often heard argument for the once called nuclear "renaissance". However, if one looks closer, there was something fishy about the industry using climate change protection as its most prominent feature... » Read more
More then thirty years of debate, and the controversy remains as polarised as ever. This website (to be fair - whose maintainer is anti-nuclear) collects news about nuclear power in Europe, sorted by nuclear power plant, type of power plant, country etc.
By presenting different (media) angles on current nuclear issues, we hope to be able to cut out some spin, either pro or against, and to allow the reader to make up his or her own mind about today's pro's and con's of nuclear power.
In the menu on the right you can select your country, the nuclear power plant in your neighbourhood, or your favourite company and read latest (most English) news about it.
Latest nuclear news
Nuclear plants sucking the sea life from British waters, researchers claim
Monday, April 14, 2008The nuclear industry in Britain is killing billions of fish every year and taking a devastating toll of stocks, an Oxford University academic suggests.
The impact can be so severe in the worst-affected regions of the seas around Britain that death rates are equivalent to half the commercial catch for some species.
Defects found in nuclear reactor the French want to build in Britain
Sunday, April 13, 2008Safety investigators uncover cracks in the concrete base and substandard welds. Lack of recent experience in building nuclear plants said to have caused problem.
EU complaint filed over Slovak nuclear plant
Sunday, April 13, 2008Environmental campaign group Greenpeace has filed a complaint with the European commission, alleging illegal state aid in the development of the controversial Mochovce nuclear power plant.
"Market-distorting measures" were put in place by Slovak authorities to persuade Slovak electricity utility Slovenske elektrarne, in which Italian firm Enel has a majority share, to participate in "what would otherwise have been an unviable and unattractive project," Greenpeace claims.
Chernobyl’s Harvest
Sunday, April 13, 2008It was 1:23 a.m. local time, April 26, 1986, when the operator flipped a switch to shut down Reactor 4. As he did so, a power surge triggered a blast of steam that blew the lid off of the top of the reactor, releasing a surge of radioactive particles into the spring night. A second explosion, again caused by the sudden buildup of pressure, turned part of the reactor into a fireball, sending more radioactive poison into the atmosphere.
EDF's Flamanville nuclear plant site has 'shortcomings' - report
Saturday, April 12, 2008PARIS (Thomson Financial) - France's nuclear safety authority identified 'shortcomings' during an inspection in March of the Flamanville site where Bouygues is building a new nuclear power plant for EDF, Les Echos reported.
The authority criticised Bouygues for bad preparation of a concreting operation and asked EDF to supervise the work more closely, according to the business daily.
Spain nuclear plant leak below legal limit: watchdog
Tuesday, April 8, 2008MADRID (Reuters) - Radioactivity from a leak detected at Spain's Asco I nuclear power plant during refueling last November was below legal limits, Spain's nuclear watchdog said on Tuesday.
The Nuclear Safety Commission sent inspectors to the plant after being told on Friday that a routine inspection had detected radioactive particles on the outside of buildings at Asco I, in the northeast Catalonia region.
Spain: Greenpeace says radioactive contamination found outside nuclear station in northeast
Monday, April 7, 2008MADRID, Spain: Radioactive contamination has been found on external surfaces of a nuclear power station on the banks of major river in northeast Spain, the environmental group Greenpeace said Saturday.
Radioactivity linked to cobalt, manganese and other elements was detected on roofs, fences and other places around the Asco nuclear power station on the Ebro River 70 kilometers (44 miles) upstream from the Mediterranean Sea, Greenpeace said in a statement.
Funding for clean-up of nuclear sites is unsustainable, say MPs
Monday, April 7, 2008The way in which the £73bn clean-up of Britain's nuclear sites is funded is unsustainable and in urgent need of reform, the government is warned today.
More taxpayers' money is also likely to be required to finance the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), according to the cross-party business and enterprise committee of MPs.
Enel CEO says Italy can build nuclear plant in 7 years
Monday, April 7, 2008MILAN (Thomson Financial) - Italy could build a nuclear power plant in just seven years if the country uses a site already destined for such purposes in the past, said Fulvio Conti, CEO of the electricity generator Enel SpA, in an interview with Saturday's La Repubblica.
Italy banned the use of nuclear energy in Italy in 1987, but Silvio Berlusconi, the head of a right-wing coalition indicated by opinion polls as the probable winner of general elections to be held on April 13-14, advocates the reintroduction of nuclear power and believes it could take five years to build a power plant.
French vision for a nuclear future
Monday, April 7, 2008It is only a matter of time. Since the UK government gave the go-ahead for new nuclear power plants, a takeover of British Energy has become all but inevitable. The nuclear power generator owns the sites on which future plants are likely to be built. It is a tasty target for EDF and other big continental European suppliers who want a slice of the UK's nuclear revival.
Placing the nuclear industry in the hands of a sole foreign owner might seem unpalatable. Yet a foreign buyer, particularly a French one, could be in the UK's interest.